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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 31, 2007
DAYTON, OH — (July 31, 2007) There is less than a one day supply of type O+ blood available prompting Community Blood Center (CBC) to announce an immediate emergency appeal for blood donors with type O blood. Recent traumas have depleted the supply of type O+ which is the most common blood type and the universal donor type for patients with A+, B+ or AB+ blood. Patients with any blood type can use type O-negative.
More than half of the blood that is transfused locally is type O (O+ and O- combined) while about 45% of the population has type O. Currently, the area’s blood supply is 947 pints or 26% below safe and adequate levels. Type O+ is 587 or 48% low. Type O- is 87 or 20% low. CBC is also low on blood type A+. Donors with all blood types are needed each and every day. The best match for a patient in need of a transfusion is blood of the same type. Despite nationwide blood shortages, CBC is attempting to acquire blood from other blood centers.
“This summer has been especially difficult,” stated Judith E. Woll, MD, chief executive officer of CBC. “We managed to get through the week of July 4th without an appeal, but recent traumas have strained the supply of type O to the point that we believe it is prudent to announce a blood emergency and an immediate need for donors with type O. The blood supply is as important a resource as EMS, fire and law enforcement. When the supply is low, lives can hang in the balance.”
CBC expects to collect 1,327 pints of blood this week, not enough to meet the regular needs of patients. With the blood emergency in place, CBC’s goal is to collect 500 pints of blood each day this week to help the blood supply recover. CBC needs more than 250 of those 500 pints each day to come from type O donors.
Not every pint collected is a usable pint and not every donor that presents is able to donate. The need for blood continues to climb every year due to advances in medicine and because people are living longer. Less than half of the adult population is eligible to donate blood with only 5% of those who could donate actually doing so.
CBC is asking healthy donors who have not given blood in the past two months to donate blood at this time. Donors need to bring a photo ID with their full name and their CBC donor ID card if they have one. Donors can schedule a donation appointment at one of CBC’s fixed sites in Dayton, Middletown, Richmond, Springfield or West Chester.
Community Blood Center-Dayton
349 S. Main Street
Dayton, OH 45402
(937) 461-3450
Community Blood Center-Middletown
3990 Roosevelt Blvd., Suite C
Middletown, OH 45044
(513) 727-1995
Community Blood Center-Richmond
4450 Garwood Place
Richmond, IN 47374
(765) 962-6329
Community Blood Center-Springfield
2200 N. Limestone Street, Suite 106
Springfield, OH 45503
(937) 399-2611
Community Blood Center -West Chester
8731 Union Centre Blvd.
West Chester, OH 45069
(513) 777-4428
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. Prospective donors with recent tattoos obtained in Kentucky or Ohio can now give blood as long as the tattoo area has healed and the procedure was done in a licensed tattoo parlor.
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.
Copyright 2005 Community Blood Center
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