Stanford Blood Center critically low on reserves, asks for donors

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OAKLAND, Calif. - Surgeries in seven Bay Area hospitals may soon be postponed due to a critically low blood supply, the Stanford Blood Center announced on Thursday.

The center is asking potential donors — especially those with type-O blood — to make a donation appointment today.

"Recently we’ve had several patients, including a patient needing a liver transplant, that have drawn heavily on our type-O blood supply," Michelle Bussenius, spokesperson for the Stanford Blood Center said in a press release. "We are struggling to rebound from this usage and are asking the community to step forward and donate to help save the lives of others in our area."

Critically low

Why you should care:

The Stanford Blood Center supplies blood to seven hospitals in the area. To bolster the center’s low supply, blood must be imported from other areas, but even with outside help, there’s not enough blood.

"Currently, we cannot even find enough blood to import," Bussenius said. "Instead of importing, and facing shortages, we want to be able to rely on our community to provide all the blood needed for patients in the area."

A press release from the center states that only four percent of the Bay Area’s eligible donors actually give blood.

The center

The backstory:

The Stanford Blood Center is a nonprofit, community-based blood collection and research center that operates three fixed-site donation centers in Palo Alto and Mountain View, and has mobile operations across the Bay Area.

Anyone interested in making an appointment can do so by visiting the center’s website, or calling (650)-723-7831.