Blood Supplies Locally

With the snow storms over the past week, Central Blood Bank has been down a little bit in their blood supplies.
“We’re not in a critical situation, but it did hurt collections,” says Lisa Cassidy, Central Blood Bank spokeswoman.
She says the Pittsburgh region is down approximately 1200 units, or three days worth of blood. The drop in donations is from people not being able to make their appointments as well as a slip in mobile collections, which normally travel to schools or businesses to collect blood. She says many of the mobile collections scheduled haven’t panned out because many businesses and schools have been closed this week.
She urges donors that have an appointment this week to come if they can safely travel. Cassidy adds that key collection centers in the city have extended hours this week, so that volunteers can easily come.
Central Blood Bank serves the Pittsburgh region, as well as Eastern Ohio and Northern West Virginia. They also serve 40 area hospitals, including all UPMC-owned facilities.