COLLEGE STATION, Brazos County — Blood donations are described as giving the gift of life. After facing a blood shortage during the height of the pandemic, many blood centers are still facing a critical need for more donations.
Now that it's the summer, the Gulf Regional Blood Center in Brazos Valley is looking to bolster their numbers in case of emergencies, as well as on National Blood Donor Day.
"During the summer we see a decrease in donations but also an increase in the need for blood which is a great time right now," said Cameron Palmer, public relations of Gulf Coast Regional.
Additionally, the decrease in donations puts a strain on medical facilities, a system that has felt the tumultuous effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and overall rise in hospitalizations around the country.
"We need about 1,000 donations just to maintain the hospital," Palmer said.
June 14 is national blood donor day, a day committed to filling this need. However, even outside of the national day, there's always someone in need of a blood donation.
Palmer shared how awareness can be spread beyond a day and how the community can come together to save lives.
"We need locations and businesses to host blood drives to make it accessible for everyone to come out and donate blood," said Palmer. "During the pandemic a lot of these elective surgeries were put on hold, they were telling people if it's not a dire emergency, you know try to hold off."
Now in 2023 with a summer free of COVID restrictions, the need for blood donations remains.
"We always need to be prepared because we never know what's gonna happen in our community, what tomorrow is gonna bring," Palmer noted.
Ultimately, he wants to push people and businesses to be advocates of donating blood, because according to him, "this is always gonna be an ongoing need."
In fact, you never know whose life you may save with a single blood donation.
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