There’s an emergency blood shortage at the Oklahoma Blood Institute.
"It actually is pretty dire. We are now at less than a one-day supply, and normally we maintain a three- to five-day supply for our local hospitals," said OBI Recruitment Manager Kenda Burnham.
OBI provides blood to 90 percent of local hospitals. It takes about 1,200 donors a day to meet blood needs.
"Because of illness and weather, we have seen a decline in donations at our blood drives that we just haven’t been able to overcome," Burnham said.
While OBI has a particular need for O-negative blood, healthy people of all blood types 16 and older are encouraged to look into donating, even if they think they aren’t eligible.
"There are very few reasons that would defer someone from giving blood, but if you’re not sure, if you’ve heard or you think there might be a reason you can’t, please give us a call and we’ll get you the information that you need," Burnham said.
More information is available at obi.org or by calling 1-877-340-8777.
