OneBlood is urgently seeking donations after Hurricane Matthew caused several sites across Florida to temporarily shut down.
While most people along the First Coast didn’t require blood transfusions,OneBlood spokesman Pat Michaels said the nonprofit needs to make up for lost time.
“Anytime that we shut down part of our donor centers, that shuts down donations. And we have to make sure that we have enough blood for our hospitals for transfusions,” he said.
Centers in South Florida were briefly shut down last week for the storm, and sites along the East Coast and Central Florida were closed Thursday and Friday as the storm moved north. Less time open resulted in less blood available to hospitals when normal operations resume.
“So O negative, platelets and AB plasma is what we’re asking for as the most urgent need,” he said. “But all blood types are needed. If you don’t know your blood type don’t worry about it, we would certainly love to see you.”
OneBlood has 80 locations across Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama. The organization also has about 200 Big Red Buses collecting blood donations throughout the states.
For more information, visit OneBlood’s website.
News Intern Blake Allen can be reached at newsteam@wjct.org, or on Twitter @BAllenMMJ
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