Although the beautiful blankets of crystal white snow make for pretty pictures, the one being painted at the Greater Alleghenies Region of the American Red Cross isn\u2019t so dapper.
\nYesterday, the ARC was forced to cancel and re-schedule a number of much-needed blood collection sites across the state, thus depleting levels to just a single-day\u2019s supply.
\n\u201cEvery day, we need to collect about 1,100 units of blood to meet the needs of patients in our 100-county area,\u201d said Marianne Spampinato, director of public relations with the Greater Alleghenies Region. \u201cYesterday, we lost approximately 900 potential units. We managed to collect some units, but not nearly enough that will be needed for the days ahead.\u201d
\nAccording to Spampinato, hospitals yesterday were \u201cfairly well stocked.\u201d She said the ARC limited blood deliveries to absolute necessities only.
\n\u201cSo right now, we\u2019re at about a one-day supply,\u201d she said. \u201cBut on Wednesday, after we make our deliveries today, we\u2019re going to drop even more.\u201d
\nTo increase the collection, Spampinato said drives will be working hard over the next couple days, both regularly scheduled events and some alternate sites that will be set up throughout the region.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re asking that people come out and give some blood,\u201d said Spampinato. \u201cPresently, we need all blood types.\u201d
\nSpampinato noted numerous blood drives in the Blair County region over the next week. These include:
\nThursday
\n \u2022Penn State Altoona, 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
\n\u2022Claysburg-Kimmel High School, noon to 6 p.m.
\n\u2022Masonic Lodge, Hollidaysburg, noon to 6 p.m.
\nFriday
\n\u2022Logan Valley Mall, Altoona, noon to 6 p.m.
\nFebruary 25
\n\u2022VA Medical Center, Altoona, 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
\nFebruary 26
\n\u2022Bellwood Senior Center, Bellwood, noon to 6 p.m.
\n\u2022St. Joseph Catholic Church, Williamsburg, noon to 6 p.m.
\nEven though the American Red Cross is the most recognized blood supplier with a national system to ship blood and blood products to different parts of the country. Red Cross officials are urging all eligible donors to give blood to help alleviate the short blood supply.
\n\u201cThe Red Cross has a national system in place to ship blood wherever it is needed in the country, but several regions in the United States are covered in blankets of snow making it harder to collect much needed blood,\u201d said Tom Angle, chief executive officer of the Greater Alleghenies Region of the American Red Cross Blood Services.
\n\u201cAll but two of our blood drives were canceled (yesterday) due to inaccessibility of some blood drive sites, and more have been canceled (today),\u201d he said. \u201cWe are urging all eligible donors to give blood as soon as possible because hospital patients are depending on blood being readily available.\u201d
\nExisting apheresis platelet donors are encouraged to keep and schedule appointments at the Beaver, Greensburg and Johnstown locations. Platelets, which only have a shelf life of 5-days, are in extremely short supply. New donors are needed to support growing demands for these very special blood cells.
\nTo donate blood, people must be at least 17 years of age; weigh at least 105 pounds; and be in generally good health.
\nFor more information on eligibility requirements or blood donation, contact 1-800-542-5663, or log onto www.redcrosslife.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Although the beautiful blankets of crystal white snow make for pretty pictures, the one being painted at the Greater Alleghenies Region of the American Red Cross isn\u2019t so dapper. Yesterday, the ARC was forced to cancel and re-schedule a number of much-needed blood collection sites across the state, thus depleting levels to just a single-day\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47287\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}