Press release:
The Blood Connection has an urgent need for O-negative blood. Donors are encouraged to give as soon as possible to ensure that blood is available for hospital patients.
“While every donation is vitally needed, particularly as we get closer to another holiday weekend, O- negative can be received by all hospital patients whether they’re an O, A, B or AB blood type, and this is crucial in trauma situations.” said TBC President and CEO Delisa English.
The long months of summer make the blood supply particularly vulnerable. As donations decline, the need for blood tends to rise during the summer months.
“The blood supply has urgent needs right now. Many of our dedicated donors are enjoying summer. At the same time, people are on the road traveling, and this creates the potential for more trauma accidents. Combined with heat waves and storms in parts of the country, we have to be prepared.”
On average, it takes more than 400 blood donations per day to maintain an adequate blood supply. English says an unexpected trauma can require 20 pints of blood or more. If there happens to be multiple traumas that require blood, the community supply could be dramatically reduced.
Cancer patients are usually the number one recipients of blood, but blood is also needed for burn victims, premature infants, car accident victims, heart surgery patients and organ transplant patients.
TBC urges all eligible donors to donate, to help ensure that hospital needs for blood are uninterrupted. Although TBC is specifically requesting O-negative blood donations, all blood types are needed.
TBC’s mission is to ensure all hospital partners have the blood supplies needed for patients at any given time. Blood donors must be healthy, weigh at least 110 pounds, and be 17 years old or 16 with written parental consent.
Donors can visit thebloodconnection to find a blood drive. They can also give at any one of TBC’s donation centers at 435 Woodruff Road, Greenville; 341 Old Abbeville Highway, Greenwood; 1954 East Main Street, Easley; 1308 Sandifer Boulevard, Seneca; 270 North Grove Medical Park Drive, Spartanburg; and 825 Spartanburg Highway, Hendersonville.
About The Blood Connection
Founded in 1979 in Greenville, SC, The Blood Connection (TBC) is the largest independently managed, non-profit community blood center in the region. It recruits donors and collects blood within an 8,390 square mile area of South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina. In South Carolina, TBC supports Greenville, Spartanburg, Union, Pickens, Oconee, Greenwood, McCormick, Laurens, and Newberry Counties. In Georgia, TBC supports Stephens County.
In 2011, The Blood Connection expanded into Western North Carolina to serve Polk, Buncombe, Transylvania, McDowell, Macon, Franklin and Henderson Counties. TBC has now expanded to serve North Carolina’s central Piedmont counties including Wake, Durham and Orange Counties.
Licensed and regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, TBC collects blood from donors through bloodmobiles, portable field units, and fixed donation sites. It holds approximately twelve blood drives every day and collects over 120,000 units of blood, platelets and plasma each year to connect volunteer blood donors, hospitals, and patients needing life-saving transfusions. For more information, contact The Blood Connection or visit thebloodconnection.
Before you comment
The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.