To: ALL MEDIA

Florida’s Blood Centers, the local blood bank, is appealing for donations of O negative blood type as soon as possible. O negative is the universal blood type and is transfused into any person needing immediate treatment for traumas and emergencies. The summer months are challenging for blood centers for all type blood donations. O negative can become critical. People with O negative are needed immediately! That’s why Florida’s Blood Centers is appealing to the public for donors as soon as possible.

Blood donations help save the lives of people needing routine surgery, trauma patients, premature babies and cancer patients at local hospitals who depend on those donations for life-saving blood transfusion. The patient needing blood transfusions could be your neighbor, a family member or even yourself. Most donations will impact those patients within a few days. If you have ever donated blood or thought about it, now is the time to be a local hero and save lives in our community.

The public is encouraged to call 1-888-9DONATE for center locations to make a donation. Check out eligibility questions on our web site at www.floridasbloodcenters.org

When: IMMEDIATELY!

Where: Any Florida’s Blood Centers location or Big Red Bus

Who: We need any person who has ever considered giving blood to please contact Florida’s Blood Centers. Cancer patients are in daily need of treatment, burn victims use plasma, trauma victims need red blood transfusions, and routine surgeries depend on the gift of a volunteer donor. Donors can be as young as 16 and should weigh at least 102 pounds. There is no upper age limit.

Current Facts!

Donations to Florida’s Blood Centers stay in our community to save lives.

Every donation is separated into components in our region and will be transfused into a patient usually within 2 to 3 days.

Just one donation can save multiple lives, because it’s separated into components– Red Blood Cells, Plasma and Platelets, Clotting Factors and a host of pharmaceuticals.

Every three seconds someone is in need of a blood transfusion.

Source: Florida’s Blood Centers