American Red Cross works to rebound during emergency shortage in La Vista

LA VISTA, Neb. (WOWT) - The American Red Cross is getting fewer and fewer blood donations through their doors. While facing a national shortage, the organization is working to get their numbers back up.

Josh Murray with the American Red Cross said the severe weather sweeping through the country which is affecting the lives of many Americans is also impacting including blood donations.

“Tornados, wind storms, floods. We’re now seeing heat throughout much of the country in the last several weeks that has impacted blood drives,” Murray said. “Sometimes we have to cancel blood drives because of that. Sometimes we have blood drives and people can’t get there.”

A dip in the summertime isn’t too out of the ordinary according to Murray. He said people are on vacation or out of their normal routines and can miss a week or two, but the drop this year is bigger than normal.

“Since July, we’ve seen numbers for donations drop by more than 25% which is obviously concerning,” Murray said.

Murray said the Red Cross needs to collect more than 12,000 units of blood a day to meet the current need. This means they’re about 3,000 donations short of their benchmark on average during this deficit.

“The only way for us to have blood available for people who need it is from donors,” Murray said. “So, we have to get that word out there to entice people to want to give and want to help those people who need it.”

Regular donation opportunities like Tuesday’s “All You Need is Blood” drive at the La Vista Conference Center are popping up all over the Metro to meet the need.

At drives hosted by the Red Cross, donors have the choice of two donation options: a common blood donation, which takes about an hour. and a “power red” donation. This type collects red cells but returns most of the plasma and platelets back to the donor.

“If you haven’t given before, I encourage everyone to give it a shot,” Murray said. “Most people who become first-time donors become second-time donors again too.”

The Red Cross is also giving away incentives like Amazon gift cards throughout August in the hopes of recruiting new donors.

If you’re interested in donating blood, you can search and register for American Red Cross Drives near you here.

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