Critical Need for O-negative Blood and Platelets at Stanford Blood Center

January 4, 2018
Attention News Desk: Press Release (for immediate release)
MEDIA CONTACT:
Loren Magaña 650-529-5828
lmagana@stanford.edu

STANFORD, Calif. — Area residents are being asked to donate blood at Stanford Blood Center to help meet the urgent needs of local hospitals.

Because of decreased donations over the holidays and higher-than-normal blood usage, the Blood Center has a critically low inventory of O-negative whole blood as well as platelets.

“We’ve appealed to our current donor base, and now we’re reaching out to the public for their help,” said Stanford Blood Center spokesperson, Loren Magaña. “If it’s been a while since your last donation, or even if you‘ve never donated before, please consider coming in to one of our centers or visiting a mobile blood drive.”

In the last few weeks there have been a high number of surgeries requiring numerous blood products, causing a significant drop in inventory. For roughly one hour of your time, you can help patients in our local community who need life-saving blood products.

Donors should be in good health with no cold or flu symptoms. They must eat well prior to donation, drink fluids and present a photo ID at the time of donation.

To schedule an appointment at one of our centers or locate the closest mobile drive, visit sbcdonor.org, or call 888-723-7831 for same-day appointments.

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Stanford Blood Center was created at the Stanford University School of Medicine in 1978 to meet the complex transfusion needs of Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, as well as provide tailored blood products and clinical trial services for school researchers. Today the center provides blood products to four local hospitals and is a recognized leader in the field of transfusion medicine. More information is available at stanfordbloodcenter.org.