LIVONIA, Mich. (WXYZ) — Hospitals across southeast Michigan are once again running short on the supply of blood.
In fact, one of the key blood centers in Michigan, Versiti says by next week, 600 additional donors are needed across the state to meet the demand.
But, even though blood supply has been up since last year, Becky Thomas from the Beaumont Health Blood Bank says summer is usually a good time to roll up the sleeve.
"Blood donations for schools come out to about 20%. So when schools being out that’s a huge deficit and just people going on vacation. And we kind of see an increase in utilization during the summer for the blood supply and that is because there are more trauma and more accidents," said Becky Thomas, assistant manager, Blood Bank of Beaumont Health.
According to a recent America’s Blood Centers report, more than 80% of deaths in the operating room and nearly 50% of deaths in the first 24 hours after injury are due to severe blood loss. While all blood types are needed, type O positive and O negative are most in demand.
"The reason for that is we use that for our Neonatal patients that require transfusion as well as trauma. And it’s the safest. We give patients this blood type if we don’t know their blood type," said Thomas.
That’s why Versiti and Amazon have teamed up to run a blood drive across metro Detroit beginning August 1-10.
Amazon's Pariss Gray says the goal is to collect 600 units of blood, which has the potential to save up to 1,800 lives.
"It's important and it means a lot to many of us, that we can donate blood and know that same blood we have given is going to a local hospital... that we may bring our kids to that we may bring our parents to," said Pariss Gray, community connections leader, Amazon.
For most, donating blood takes about an hour and has the potential to save up to three lives. What’s more, a University of California study shows that donors can lose up to 650 calories per pint of blood donated.
"We have a few locations that are open to the public, such as our Livonia warehouse, also we have two in the Romulus area," said Gray.
As for what donors should keep in mind when donating blood during the summer, Becky says, "You should really stay well hydrated. That’s really important. Don’t do any strenuous activity before you donate. Get a good breakfast, lunch, dinner make sure you are feeling pretty good to donate."
Meanwhile, donors can donate every 56 days.
To schedule an appointment at the nearest blood donation center, including at Amazon locations, head to donate.michigan.versiti.org
