Bloodworks Northwest says Washington State is worryingly short on blood, and without an increase in donations, the bank will have a one- or two-day supply.
The organization called the situation “especially concerning” as the area enters the “100 Deadliest Days,” which it says is the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day, when car crashes among teen drivers spike and blood donations drop.
According to the organization, it has 22,000 open appointments for whole blood from now till the end of this month and more than 63,000 open appointments before Labor Day.
Bloodworks said that without enough donations in the northwest, it has been forced to import 2,281 units of blood from other locations across the country. The organization said this was the highest amount they had ever had to request from locations around the country, and if they do not start receiving more blood locally, the draw from the northwest could worsen the national blood shortage.
In the statement, the organization said that the blood types it most needs are O+, O-, A-, B-, and AB-.
Appointments to donate are available on Bloodworks Northwest’s website.
The organization said that while the need for blood is great, according to their analysis, if every person who gave blood to the organization last year donated just one more time, “we would have more than enough.