Dangerously low is the best way to put it. Our local blood center serves medical facilities in 10 counties, so when there are many trauma happening close together like last weekend, having a low blood supply is what the community does not want.
"The reality is every two seconds," said Ashley Ramirez, a donor recruiter of the Coastal Bend Blood Center. "Somebody is in need of a blood transfusion".
We talk about it year-round. Blood donations, and that conversation is on-going. The truth is, blood donors are always needed because blood is always needed, and not only for major traumas that we just had in the Coastal Bend like the plant explosion at CITGO, or shootings.
"You have surgeries, you have blood transfusions that are needed as treatments," said Hannah Halepaske with the Coastal Bend Blood Center, "or cancer patients, burn victims, there are little kiddos at Driscoll, there's all sorts of individuals daily just to continue living a healthy life-style".
From a health life-style, to a natural process; blood is what can help keep a patient alive.
"When you deliver, a lot of moms need blood transfusions for whatever reasons," Ramirez added, "so yeah, that's definitely crossed my mind and of course, I want to ensure that 'hey, we have that amount of blood supply on our shelves,' but no we don't and that's a very scary thought".
The Coastal Bend Blood Center isn't the only blood center hurting for donors it's a nation-wide issue which still hurts folks in the Coastal Bend directly.
"We will reach out to any blood center that we can, but if they're all in critical need, it makes it very challenging. We don't want to see any of our community members suffer and not have what they need," said Halepaska.
They said when people are able to give half an hour of their day to donate some blood, many more people are going to stay alive.
On Saturday, June 26th, you can rock-n-roll up your sleeve at Cavender's and be part of a life-saving mission. The Blood Center will be there from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Click here for more information.
For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.
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