As of Thursday, Community Blood Center of the Ozarks (CBCO) has not been asked to provide blood to Haiti in response to the severe earthquake that affected the region on Tuesday.
America’s Blood Centers (ABC), the network of independent blood centers that provide about half of the total blood to the U.S. and Canada, is monitoring the situation in Haiti closely.
Although a couple of ABC member centers in Florida have been asked to send blood to Guantanamo Bay for patients being transported there, those centers report that supplies are ample at this time.
All blood relief efforts for quake victims are being coordinated through the U.S. Armed Services Blood Program Office.
Although no blood has been requested, CBCO donors provide blood to the U.S. Military and support their needs on a regular basis.
“We have a longstanding relationship with the U.S. Military that allows us to send blood to them whenever they request it,” said CBCO Executive Director Don Thomson. “Our relationship with America’s Blood Centers also will allow us to refill the shelves of other independent blood centers that may run short because of relief efforts. We stand ready to supply blood if we’re called upon to do so.”
Locally, CBCO remains in a Code Yellow Alert for all negative blood types.
A Code Yellow Alert means that there is less than a two day supply of blood on hand to meet current local needs.
“The best thing local blood donors can do is to help us keep our reserves plentiful so that we’ll be able to provide relief if needed,” Thomson added.
Donors to Community Blood Center of the Ozarks provide blood and blood products to patients at thirty-seven area hospitals.
Every five minutes, an area patient receives blood that was provided by a CBCO donor. For more information on how to save area lives, contact CBCO at 1-800-280-5337, or log on to www.cbco.org.
