Blood Supplies in Iowa Critically Low

Frigid weather and the approaching holidays are creating double-trouble forblood collection agencies across Iowa. Blood supplies are at a critically low level in Iowa due to many factors,the biggest being the early arrival of winter. Stacy Sime is spokespersonfor the Blood Center of Central Iowa. She says some of the reasons for theshort supplies — people are too busy with holiday activities to donate, theweather is too foul for them to go out, and blood center mobile units can’tcut through the snow to do blood drives. Sime says the recent dramatic rise in car wrecks and people getting hurt inthem is another reason the state’s blood supply is sapped.The Blood Center of Central Iowa supplies blood to 26 hospitals in 22counties. Call your nearest Red Cross agency to find out where you can go todonate.