Several areas of the country are reporting dangerously low supplies of blood for treating hospital patients and accident victims. Jenny Garner is a spokeswoman at the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center, Iowa’s largest.She says people get busy around holiday seasons, and this year collections are down which is typical in summer. But Garner says there is no shortage this holiday. In the service region this blood bank serves, since there is no shortage they’ll help out other parts of the country. Even though the more typical shortage hasn’t appeared, Garner says it’s vital to have a large number of donors who come in to give blood on a regular basis.She says red blood cells last 42 days, platelets only five days, and that’s why she says they need to collect so much. The Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center covers 29 counties in eastern Iowa and part of Illinois. It’ll be open Friday and Saturday, and for local collection points and times you can find their website at www.bloodcenter.org.