Stanford Blood Center Has Urgent Need for All Blood Types

September 8, 2021
Attention News Desk: Press Release (for immediate release)
MEDIA CONTACT:
Ross Coyle | 650-725-3804
rcoyle@stanford.edu

STANFORD, Calif. — Stanford Blood Center (SBC) is facing an urgent need for all blood types coming out of the Labor Day holiday and is asking Bay Area residents to come out and donate as soon as possible to meet the immediate needs of local patients.

Higher than expected blood usage at our partner hospitals, coupled with lower collections due to holiday donor travel and mobile drive cancellations, has depleted the blood supply. Currently, all blood types are needed — especially O positive (O+) and O negative (O-). Blood donors are strongly encouraged to give in the coming days to help replenish the blood supply to sustainable levels. Just an hour of your time can help save the lives of multiple patients.

“The pandemic has been a challenging time to collect blood, but it hasn’t slowed down the demand for blood products and currently, we have a number of open appointments,” said SBC Spokesperson Ross Coyle. “It’s the blood that we have readily available that allows us to save a life at a moment’s notice, so we’re urging the community to please consider donating this week. We want to reassure the public that the safety of our donors is a top priority and we have measures in place to ensure blood donation continues to be a safe process for everyone onsite.”

SBC has been supporting a number of patients who have required large amounts of blood products. Many of these patients have undergone cardiovascular, transplant, or obstetric surgeries that need blood transfusions to replace the blood lost during their procedure. “During the past two weeks, nearly 650 patients, including more than 120 children, required over 2,300 units (pints) of blood products, more than 740 of which were O+ red blood cells,” said Dr. Suchi Pandey, Chief Medical Officer at Stanford Blood Center. “This summer we’ve seen surgical volume at our partner hospitals increase by as much as 15 percent. Local patients need the community’s support every day.”

If you’re thinking about donating for the first time, now is a great opportunity to help save lives. Donors are encouraged to make an appointment at one of three donation center locations in Campbell, Menlo Park, or Mountain View. There are also a number of mobiles open to the public this week, including blood drives in Palo Alto, San Jose, and Sunnyvale.

Anyone who registers to donate during September will get a coupon for a free regular-sized Jersey Mike’s sub sandwich.Appointments can be scheduled online at stanfordbloodcenter.org or by calling 888-723-7831 for same-day appointments.

Donors should be in good health with no cold, flu, or COVID-19 symptoms. They should eat well prior to donation, drink fluids, and present a photo ID at the time of donation. Eligibility information can be found at stanfordbloodcenter.org/eligibility or by calling 888-723-7831.

About Stanford Blood Center

Stanford Blood Center (SBC) is an independent, community blood center that supplies blood products and testing services to multiple Bay Area hospitals and is a recognized leader in the fields of transfusion and transplantation medicine. SBC was created at the Stanford University School of Medicine in 1978 to meet the complex transfusion and transplant needs of Stanford Health Care and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, as well as provide clinical trial services and specialized blood products for researchers. Today, the center remains locally focused, serving community hospitals, patients and donors, while contributing to research and advancement that impact the world at large. More information is available at stanfordbloodcenter.org.