Community Urged To Donate Blood This Summer

The American Red Cross of Central & Southern West Virginia is calling on all blood donors to give blood now. All blood types are needed, and donors who don’t know their blood type can learn it after donation. 

Book a time to give blood by visiting RedCrossBlood.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS (733-2767) or by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App.

Central Appalachia Region CEO Erica Mani said Type O blood products are most needed on hospital shelves.

“When there is no time to assess what someone’s blood type is, you can reach for that O blood. O negative is that universal donor, and O positive is the most common blood type,“ she said. “O is the most utilized type of blood that the hospitals need. That said, there are multiple blood types, and everybody’s type is very helpful.”

The summer school break limits where blood drives can be held and how many people can attend. Mani said the rate of high impact incidents that can quickly deplete local reserves, like car accidents, also rises in the summer.

“There are so many people in the summer who are traveling,” she said. “There are more accidents as a result, and one car accidents can actually require up to 100 units of blood for an individual that has been impacted. With one accident taking 100 units of blood, your blood supply can quickly become diminished, particularly in a time where there’s increased travel.”

Donors are being incentivized with a sunglasses giveaway through July 14, as well as Fandango movie rewards. Mani said the request is important because of blood’s unique role in the medical system.

“It is so unusual in this world to have a product that’s needed that cannot be manufactured,” she said. “Blood is the one product that I can think of that we can’t manufacture, but we have to rely upon others to come out, roll up their sleeves and provide this product that is lifesaving. We hope that this message will inspire people to come out, our regular donors and new ones too.”