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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 15, 2007
DAYTON, OH — (Thursday, February 15, 2007) Community Blood Center (CBC) registered 543 donors and collected 412 usable pints of blood yesterday as donors streamed into emergency blood drives and CBC’s downtown Dayton location. On Tuesday, CBC announced for only the second time in 43 years that it had asked area hospitals to defer elective surgeries likely to need blood until Friday in an effort to conserve blood supplies for emergencies. Blood collected on Tuesday underwent safety testing yesterday and is available today for shipment to area hospitals. Blood collected yesterday will be available for shipment on Friday.
“Thanks to the tremendous response of blood donors in the Miami Valley, we will stock our hospitals through the day as testing is completed allowing surgeons to begin performing elective procedures again tomorrow,” stated Judith E. Woll, MD, chief executive officer at CBC. “By Friday, we will have enough red cells to consider ‘business as usual’ status for our area hospitals. However, without continued donations, we could find ourselves in a similar situation again.”
CBC wishes to thank the following for hosting emergency blood drives: Good Samaritan Hospital Grandview Hospital, Kettering Medical Center, Miami Valley Hospital, Sycamore Hospital, and the University of Dayton. Over 275 University of Dayton students registered to donate blood over the past two days. CBC has had offers of assistance from our other hospitals as well and is grateful.
“The response to this blood emergency has been amazing even in the extreme weather conditions we have faced,” said Jodi Minneman, chief operating officer of CBC. “When we get to this stage of an emergency, we are literally worried about a life and death situation. We appreciate our donors who truly demonstrated their heroic spirit and we appreciate our hospitals for their understanding and cooperation. Please continue the support so that we can return the blood supply to safe and adequate levels.”
While donations have been high the past two days, CBC continues to urgently need donors to help resolve the current blood shortage. The area blood supply is 770 pints or 19% low. Types O positive and negative are both around 30% below acceptable levels. Two blood drives have been cancelled for today and tomorrow in Wilmington and donors are needed in other areas to make up for those cancellations. All CBC branch locations in Dayton, Middletown, Springfield, West Chester and Richmond, IN will be open this Saturday morning. For more information on branch hours and exact locations, visit: http://www.cbccts.org/donating/centers.htm.
CANCELLED BLOOD DRIVES:
Cancelled 2-15-07
- Liberty Savings and Kautex-Textron - Wilmington
Cancelled 2-16-07
- Wilmington College - Wilmington
For more information, call 1-800-388-GIVE or visit www.cbccts.org.
Please note: CBC no longer requires donors to provide their social security number when they register to donate. Donors are required to provide a photo ID that includes their full name. Past CBC donors are also asked to bring their CBC donor ID card. Donors must be at least 17 years of age, weigh a minimum of 110 pounds, and be in good physical health. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) changes blood donor eligibility guidelines periodically. Individuals with eligibility questions are invited to email canidonate@cbccts.org or call 1-800-388-GIVE.
Community Blood Center/Community Tissue Services™, an independent, not-for-profit organization, is registered to ISO 9001:2000. Community Blood Center provides blood products to 25 hospitals in the Miami (Ohio) and Whitewater (Indiana) Valleys. For more information about Community Blood Center/Community Tissue Services™, visit www.cbccts.org.
Please call the center nearest you to make an appointment.
Copyright 2005 Community Blood Center
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