Blood Supply to Local Trauma Centers in Seattle Running on Fumes

Bloodworks Northwest at Less Than 1 Day Supply of O Blood Types.

SEATTLE, Wash. (APRIL 25, 2019) – Running out of gas is inconvenient but running out of blood is deadly. Bloodworks Northwest is at less than a single day supply of O Positive and O Negative because those specific types are required most for emergencies in trauma centers across the Pacific Northwest.

“Making things worse, there is a nationwide shortage on group O, the universal blood type, which effects our ability to receive assistance from other parts of the country,” says Brian Danforth, Bloodworks Northwest Senior Customer Engagement and Business Development Executive. “Compounding the problem is the fact that Easter weekend donations were down as well.”

Bloodworks has fun perks for people who donate a pint by April 30 to help end the shortage. Donors who give before the end of the month will be entered to win travel prizes like $500 Alaska Airlines vouchers, $100 REI and gas gift cards. The campaign is called Bold for Blood & Adventure. So far, response has been encouraging, but Bloodworks is concerned that the upcoming Memorial Day weekend will impact their ability to provide urgently-needed blood for emergencies at a time when the trauma units around our region typically experience high patient usage.

 “We’re urging folks to make an appointment as soon as possible to pump up the community, if you will, and help restore our inventories to normal levels,” says Danforth. “A strong blood supply is critical to healthcare in our community.”

Donors can find locations of donor centers and drives or make appointments online at BloodworksNW.org, by calling 800-398-7888, or by texting ‘bloodapp’ to ‘91985’ to download the Bloodworks App.

Blood donation takes about an hour and each donation can help up to three people in the Pacific Northwest. The actual donation time is only about 10 minutes. Most people in good health are eligible to donate blood every 56 days. Volunteer donors are the only source of blood.

Bloodworks Donor Centers:

Please check BloodworksNW.org for latest hours and locations.

About Bloodworks Northwest

Bloodworks (formerly Puget Sound Blood Center) is backed by 75 years of Northwest history and 250,000 donors. It is local, nonprofit, independent, volunteer-supported and community-based. A recognized leader in transfusion medicine, Bloodworks serves patients in more than 100 hospitals in Washington, Oregon and Alaska — partnering closely with local hospitals to deliver the highest level of patient care. Comprehensive services include blood components, complex cross-matching, specialized lab services for organ transplants, care for patients with blood disorders, and collection of cord blood stem cells for cancer treatment. Bloodworks Research Institute performs leading-edge research in blood biology, transfusion medicine, blood storage and treatment of blood disorders. Patients with traumatic injuries, undergoing surgeries or organ transplantation, or receiving treatment for cancer and blood disorders all depend on our services, expertise, laboratories and research. For more information, visit bloodworksnw.org