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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JANUARY 12, 2007, SEATTLE — The cold weather continues to impact the area’s blood supply. The blood supply continues to drop with the supply in Western Washington now at emergency levels. This is the first time in five years levels have dropped this low at Puget Sound Blood Center.
“When a trauma happens, we rely on blood from Puget Sound Blood Center,” says Chris Martin, Administrative Director of Emergency Services at Harborview Medical Center. “Any effort donors can make to donate blood is greatly appreciated by us and our by our patients.”
In an unprecedented move, Puget Sound Blood Center (serving 14 Western Washington Counties) and Cascade Regional Blood Services (serving Pierce and South King Counties) are jointly urging blood donors to donate at a blood drive or donor center today or over the next couple days. All levels are low and we are currently approaching one-day levels in Type O and Type A blood.
The Blood Center encourages anyone who is able to safely make their way to one of the Blood Center’s donor centers or blood drives to donate through the end of the week. Schedule an appointment at 800-398-7888 or visit our Web site at psbc.org. Walk-ins at the donor centers. Cascade Regional Blood Sevices can be reached at cascadebloodcenters.org or 1-877-24-BLOOD.
The weather continues to impact the blood supply. Several blood drives have been impacted. One significant blood drive at Bothell High School, with over 300 donors registered, was cancelled today. Anticipating this might happen, six alternate blood drives were scheduled at various Boeing locations, Washington Mutual Tower, Top Foods in Snohomish and other locations. Although these blood drives will help the situation, the measures won’t completely make up the lost registrations from the cancelled drive.
The Blood Center will open two additional donor centers, in Tukwila and Bellevue, on Sunday to take in donors. The hours for the Tukwila and Bellevue donor centers on Sunday are 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Lynnwood donor center is normally open on Sundays, it’s hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Additional blood drives are being scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, January 13.
The Blood Center is also opening two donor centers on Monday that are normally closed that day. The Everett donor center, 2703 Oakes Avenue, Everett will be open 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and the Bellingham donor center, at Sunset Square, Bellingham, will be open 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
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The blood supply is at emergency levels, many blood types, especially Type O and Type A at a one-day supply.
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A significant blood drive to be held at Bothell High School today was cancelled. Over 300 donor registrations at this drive were expected. Six alternate blood drives have been set up to help off-set the loss.
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Two additional donor centers will be open on Sunday, in addition to the normally open Lynnwood donor center. The Tukwila donor center, 130 Andover Park E, Tukwila and the Bellevue donor center, 1021 112th Avenue NE, Bellevue, will both be open Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Lynnwood donor center, 19723 Highway 99, Lynnwood, is open Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
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Donor registrations for today, prior to the storm, were in excess of 800. The Blood Center now anticipates registrations of between 550 and 600 donors.
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Thursday’s donor registrations were higher than anticipated, at nearly 500, far less than normal, but more than expected following the storm and numerous blood drive cancellations.
We expect many donors will continue to have difficulty making their way to blood drives and donor centers, especially with continued school closures.
Several factors have combined to put the Blood Center and Cascade Regional Blood Services on alert. The Blood Center normally anticipates and prepares for the typical tapering of blood donations that occurs through the holidays, beginning with Thanksgiving. The severe storms that followed in late November and in December and their associated school closures dealt several blows to the Blood Center’s blood inventory. The Blood Center’s supply was still in midst of recovery when the most recent storm began to affect our area yesterday.
All Puget Sound Blood Center donor centers are open their normal hours through the weekend.
Puget Sound Blood Center operates nine donor centers located in Western Washington: ###
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