Winter weather can have a severe impact on blood supplies. That is the current situation at the Versiti Blood Center of Michigan, where they are making a plea to donors.
“We had hundreds of units cancelled, we’ve been trying to add more drives to the books, calling donors. When we don’t collect blood, that’s we don’t’ have enough to support our 87 hospitals.”
Dawn Kaiser is the Director of Donor Services at Versiti. She says during this time of year, the need for blood and blood platelets is even higher. And with the weather impacting donors, the need has become great. This as they face a critical shortage of blood and platelet donations.
“We’re asking before the storm, please come in to our donor systems, please be sure we fill our blood bank; we need to make a deposit because we have withdrawals for patients.”
Kaiser emphasizes that donors stay safe but try to make a donation as soon as possible. There are two donation sites, one on Fuller northeast, the other in Grandville.
You can make an appointment and find other information on their website at versiti.org/Michigan
