The drought isn’t just hitting our yards and crops. The region’s blood bank is running dry, too. The Des Moines-based LifeServe Blood Center is the sole provider of blood for 93 hospitals in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota.
Spokeswoman Abby Hausmann-Virgil says the usual 5-day supply of blood is down to less than one day for certain types. “We have a variety of blood types that are in critical need right now, specifically RH negatives, so O-negative, B-negative and AB-negative,” Hausmann-Virgil says.
“We always need type Os, both O-positive and O-negative blood types are in high need right now.” Summertime is often a downtime for the blood bank, but she says the extreme, prolonged heat has really kept a lot of people away from donating a pint.
“Call us a 800 287-4903 and we can set up an appointment,” Hausmann-Virgil says. “We have blood drives all across our service territory in those three states and we have nine donor centers so we can easily find something that fits into your schedule.”
Those donor centers are in cities including: Ames, Des Moines, Mason City, Marshalltown, Sioux City, Waterloo and Urbandale. She says it doesn’t take long to give this gift and it has far-reaching potential.
“The process is pretty quick, 45 minutes to an hour for the total donation process including all of your paperwork,” Hausmann-Virgil says. “We’ll get you in and out and help save up to three lives.”
Learn more at: www.lifeservebloodcenter.org.