O-Negative Blood Donors Needed

Blood Assurance reporting an urgent need for the important O-negative blood type.

Blood Assurance Media Relations Coordinator Brooke Katz said the O-negative blood type is vital to hospitals as it is the universal blood type and can be given to anyone regardless of their blood type. Katz said hospitals put an extremely high value on O-negative blood.

“It is incredibly important during emergency situations like a car accident or to something of that effect,” Katz said. “Doctors may not have time or a way to ask a patient what their blood type is. O-negative is what they are going to reach for in those emergency situations and that’s why it is so incredibly important and also why it is so in demand.”

Katz said currently they have only ten units left. Katz said Blood Assurance usually runs low around this time of year because of vacations. The lack of high school blood drives also a factor.

“Summer is typically a really rough time of year for us just in general,” Katz said. “A big portion of our donor base comes from High School blood drives. High Schools of course have been out for the summer and we are not getting those numbers that we typically see.”

Katz said Blood Assurance is reaching out to many organizations to ask if they could host a blood drive. Katz encourages people who are interested in donating blood to visit the Blood Assurance Donation Center in Cookeville. Blood Assurance has posted a schedule online for upcoming blood drives all across the Upper Cumberland. Katz said the need for blood never ends.

“That need never stops,” Katz said. “There may not be a big mass emergency every day but somebody is having an emergency in their personal life every single day where seconds count and blood matters. It can save lives.”

Katz said only seven percent of the world’s population has O-negative blood. Katz said she encourages everyone to donate even if they do not know their blood type.

“A lot of people don’t know their blood type,” Katz said. “I also don’t want to discourage people if you don’t know your blood type this is a great way to find out. You can come, you can donate, you can save three lives, you can learn your blood type which could be incredibly important in an emergency situation for yourself, and again you’re saving lives and helping people right in your own community.”