Shortages spur plea for blood donations

Local blood donation centers facing supply shortages are issuing pleas for donations this week and throughout the holiday season.

The Puget Sound Blood Center, which operates the Oregon and Southwest Washington Blood Program, is facing an “acute shortage” of O-negative blood and platelets. O-negative blood donors are universal donors whose blood can be given to patients with any other blood type. Platelets are colorless cell fragments that serve as the clotting factor in blood. Platelets are used by patients undergoing surgeries, organ transplants and cancer treatment.

“The number of people visiting donation centers and mobile drives goes down by 25 percent or more during Thanksgiving week, with high schools and colleges on break and people busy with family gatherings and other activities,” said David Leitch, director of donor and volunteer resources for the local blood program, in a news release.

The local program supplies the blood for all of the hospitals in Clark and Cowlitz counties and about half of Multnomah County in Oregon. To meet the hospitals’ needs, the program needs to collect about 22,000 units of blood per year. About 6,300 of those units go to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, according to Leitch.

“We’re asking O-negative and platelet donors to schedule a donation this week at our Vancouver Donor Center or to find a (blood) drive in their community close to where they live or work,” Leitch said. “That will carry us through the holiday, so we can avoid an emergency shortage.”

To make an appointment at the Vancouver Donor Center, 9320 N.E. Vancouver Mall Drive, Suite 100, visit www.oswblood.org/schedule or call 800-398-7888.

The American Red Cross is also seeking blood donations this holiday season, particularly around long holiday weekends when many donors are traveling.

To encourage donations, the Red Cross is again hosting its annual Thanksgiving Day Blood Drive in Vancouver and giving each donor several seasonal goodies.

The blood drive is 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. today at the Vancouver Blood Donation Center, 5109 N.E. 82nd Ave. To make an appointment, visit www.redcrossblood.org or call 800-733-2767.

Blood donors will receive a pumpkin pie, a T-shirt, a coupon for the Oregon Ballet Theater production of “The Nutcracker” and a pot holder stuffed with recipes.