LIFELINE Blood Services announced today that West Tennessee’s blood supply is at a critically low level and that blood types O positive, O negative, B positive, and B negative are needed right away.
“Less than a day’s worth of blood supply is on our shelves so we have issued a CRITICAL APPEAL. It’s the blood on the shelves that saves lives, and we need donors to step up and make the time to donate. We cannot manufacture blood products, so please donate TODAY so we can serve West TN patients!” according to Melinda Reid, Marketing Manager with LIFELINE Blood Services.
The shortage is caused by low donor turnout at our mobile blood drives, from which 75% of our blood supply is donated. Additionally, LIFELINE has struggled to get donor numbers back to where they once were prior to the pandemic. This is a problem nationwide, which hinders LIFELINE’s ability to import blood from other blood centers. From an individual perspective, many donors have fallen out of the habit of giving.
“This is a critical shortage, and we need everyone to donate at either our Jackson or Dyersburg Center or on one of our mobile blood drives in order to save lives. You never know when you will be the one on the receiving end in the hospital needing blood,” said Melinda Reid, Marketing Manager with LIFELINE Blood Services.
LIFELINE Blood Services, located at 183 Sterling Farms Drive, is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome. The Dyersburg Center is located at 1130 HWY 51 Bypass, Suite 19 & 20, and is open Saturday 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., Sunday through Tuesday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
LIFELINE provides blood services to 21 West Tennessee counties, including 18 hospitals and 14 emergency helicopter service locations and 1 ground ambulance service. Annually, the Center collects approximately 26,000 blood products (red cell units, platelets, plasma, etc.) to meet the needs of patients. Of that total, 75% of those products are usually collected on the bloodmobiles across West Tennessee. LIFELINE also provides reference lab and cross-matching services to healthcare facilities. For more information, visit lifelinebloodserv.org.