March 12th, 2019
FORT SMITH- The Arkansas Blood Institute reports that they are currently on a full appeal, which means they need blood donations of all blood types due to an emergency blood shortage. The institute wants to reach out to anyone who can help combat the shortage.
“An appeal means we have done everything internally that we have,” said Danny Cervantes, Recruitment Manager for the Arkansas Blood Institute. “We have contacted all of our donors, we have sent emails out to all of our blood drive sponsors, and we have done everything we can to get in touch with our database.”
The Institute has not experienced a blood shortage of this type in the last 3 years.
“Typically we like to have a 3-5 day blood supply on hand and were currently running on a 1 day or below on all blood types at this time,” said Cervantez.”We have seen a significantly lower amount of people coming into blood drives. The amount has been lower than expected because of people who are sick with the flu or because of inclement weather and it has really taken a toll on the blood supply.”
Donations to the Arkansas Blood Institute help supply institutions such as Mercy Hospital and Baptist Health in Fort Smith as well as 40 hospitals across Arkansas.
Arkansas Blood Institute depends on an average of 1,200 donors per day to meet the needs of patients in our state. One donation can save up to three lives.
“Here locally in Fort Smith that means we need to see about 100-150 donations a day,” said Cervantez.
Blood donations can be made at the following locations:
North Little Rock, 4548 John F. Kennedy Blvd
Russellville, 1003 West Main
Fort Smith, 5300 S. U St.
Hot Springs, 149 Section Line Road, Ste. G
Little Rock, 101 South Shackleford Road, Ste. 2
Appointments to give blood are not required but can be made by clicking here to find a blood drive near you or calling (877) 340-8777.
The Institute will also be holding drives at the Walmarts in Greenwood and Alma this friday. Next week they are holding drives at Baptist Hospital on Wednesday and Mercy Hospital on Thursday.
The Arkansas Blood Institute’s Website is a great place to find the latest information on locations for blood drives in this ongoing effort.