CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — On Monday, the Coastal Bend Blood Center made an urgent post on Facebook.
The blood center had less than a day’s supply of O-positive and O-negative blood, the most common blood type and the universal donor, respectively.
“We are in critical need of blood supply,” said Ashley Ramirez, the community outreach and education coordinator for CBBC.
Ramirez said around 30 percent of the blood center’s donations in a year come from high schoolers, so the number of donations naturally dips during the summer.
But there have been fewer donations recently.
“In a typical day, we receive about 120 blood donations. Right now, we’re receiving less than half of that,” she said.
The CBBC supplies blood to 22 hospitals across the Coastal Bend. Five of those hospitals are in the CHRISTUS Spohn Health System.
“We do a lot of surgeries, invasive surgeries require more blood, a patient coming in for trauma could need two-plus pints related to that,” said Ann Marie Madden, the chief nursing executive for CHRISTUS Spohn. “Looking at the criticality of each particular campus determines the allocation of blood.”
The CHRISTUS Spohn hospitals currently have enough blood, but Madden said hospital officials are monitoring the blood they have.
“We have an ample amount, but we are very carefully administering blood to patients who really need it,” she said.
Lorraine Herrera saw the CBBC’s post and decided to donate blood on Tuesday.
“I saw the Facebook post last night that they were short on O blood, and I am O-positive, so I decided to come out here this morning,” she said.
Herrera donates blood every two to four months.
“My son has blood disorders, so I’ve learned a lot. Blood is so crucial, and I’ve had friends who have needed transfusions. It’s just super important for people to donate if they’re able to,” she said.
Ramirez said the blood center has enough blood to supply the local hospitals right now, but they have had to limit the amount they can send to each in non-emergency situations.
However, one major event that requires a lot of blood could deplete the blood center’s supply.
“So, we just don’t want to be in that situation where we’re in critical need, and something like that does happen,” she said.
The CBBC is open six days a week for donations, except Sundays, and is located at 209 North Padre Island Dr.
The center is open for walk-ins, and appointments can be made by calling 361-855-4943.
Blood collection buses will be located throughout the Coastal Bend on Wednesday.
Locations:
London High School 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Texas Department of Public Safety – SPID 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Texas Department of Public Safety – Twin River Blvd. 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.
Coastal Plains Community Center – Alice 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Jim Wells County Courthouse 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Supreme Lending – 7002 S Staples 3 p.m.-5 p.m.
