American Red Cross has announced a critical shortage in blood supply for the summer season and requests for volunteers to participate in the several blood donation drives scheduled to address the situation.

According to a July 3 post from the organization’s official Facebook page, a lower than expected blood and platelet donation for the past two months led to the current critical blood emergency.

This is not the first time that Red Cross issued a plea for blood donors since low blood donation count seems to be the sad trend in the past few years.

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Short Supply Of Blood

American Red Cross is not kidding when it said it is in dire need of blood supply.

According to the organization, there have been 61,000 fewer donations in the past two months, significantly thinning its reserve. This would translate to at least four days of Red Cross not receiving any blood donations. The shortage could also be difference between life and death for those needing emergency blood transfusions.

“It’s crucial that people donate now to meet the needs of patients every day and to be prepared for emergencies that require significant volumes of donated blood … right now these heroes are needed to give as soon as possible,” Red Cross Blood Services communications director Nick Gehrig expressed.

The organization also reveals that the Fourth of July weekend tend to have the least volunteer turnouts during blood donation drives since most people are having a vacation.

Where And How To Help Out

While blood donations are usually already challenging, the summer season is even more so because many people have scheduled trips as part of their vacation. However, those who are still willing to extend their assistance to Red Cross and help save lives may check the website to see whether a blood drive is scheduled in the city they will go to.

All a volunteer has to do is to enter the zip code of the location to determine if they can make an unscheduled donation.

For those in Georgia who want to donate as soon as possible, Red Cross centers in Georgia already have scheduled blood drives from July 6 to 9. Here are the schedules and donations accepted:

July 6, Thursday

• Savannah Blood Donation Center (Blood & Platelets), 12 noon to 8 p.m.
• Memorial Health University Medical Center (Blood only), 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
• Columbia Blood Donation Center (Blood, Platelets & Power Red), 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

July 7, Friday

• Walmart (Blood & Power Red), 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

July 7 and 8, Friday and Saturday

• Savannah Blood Donation Center (Blood & Platelets), 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Columbia Blood Donation Center (Blood, Platelets & Power Red), 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.

July 9, Sunday