CBCO donors provide more blood in hurricane relief effort

CBCO donors were able to provide 100 units of blood to hurricane ravaged areas of Florida during the past week. Separate shipments went to Lee Memorial Hospital in Ft. Myers, FL, and OneBlood, the independent supplier of blood to many hospitals in Florida. Blood donations have just resumed in the areas hit by Hurricane Irma, but acute shortages exist while people put their lives back together after the disaster.

“I’m tremendously pleased that the Ozarks was in a position to help those affected by Hurricane Irma,” CBCO Executive Director Anthony Roberts said. “We had an increase in donations locally after we were able to help southeast Texas in response to Hurricane Harvey. It’s another great example of how donations already on the shelves were used for an immediate disaster response. We’re asking donors again to help us to build back our own reserves so that lives can continue to be saved both locally and elsewhere in times of crisis.”

Sept. 14, 2017-Community Blood Center of the Ozarks (CBCO) is the sole local provider of blood for patients at 40 area hospitals in southwest Missouri, northwest Arkansas and southeast Kansas. Sick and injured hospital patients depend on CBCO donors to provide the lifesaving blood they need.

A Negative and O Negative blood types are in short supply. Current blood reserves find shortages among A Negative and O Negative blood types. There is less than a two-day supply of O Negative and A Negative blood. All donors, especially these types, are encouraged to give blood soon at a CBCO blood drive or donor center. On average, a transfusion takes place every seven minutes and around 220 donations are needed each day to meet the area’s blood needs. You can help by giving blood in an upcoming blood drive: