Carter BloodCare Joins Nation’s First Emergency Blood Reserve – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
Carter BloodCare is one of three blood donation centers in Texas that have joined a newly established blood reserve to prepare for emergency situations with high blood needs.
The Blood Emergency Readiness Corps (BERC) comprises seven blood centers from five states. Carter BloodCare’s Linda Goelzer says the centers will operate on a rotating on-call schedule, collecting additional units of blood.
“When Carter BloodCare is on duty next week with a blood center in Wisconsin, our goal is to collect 50 – that’s five-zero – additional units of blood. First and foremost, enter O, if possible, and you can put this aside in case something should happen this week, ”said Goelzer. “It is important that we hope that not all parts of the country could be affected at the same time, but the purpose of this riot corps is to ensure that we have a blood supply designed for mass trauma at all times.”
Goezler said the pandemic has impacted blood supplies and donations as many businesses, schools and places of worship have switched to virtual options.
“Much of the blood we collected in the community came from blood drives held in some of these places,” she said. “The activity has increased a lot more, but it’s still not even close to what it should be. The blood supply has remained so low and so unstable that we tell people that if you donate blood today, it will likely be targeting a patient in about 48 hours. “
Stephen Love, president and CEO of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council, said the hospitals in the area are aware of the low blood supply. He said while no north Texas hospital had to cancel procedures due to blood supply, hospitals were trying “to be very careful about how we use the blood.”
Love added that the number of COVID-19 hospital stays fell slightly on Sunday to 3,468 patients overall.
“I would say that right now we are plateauing at a total of 3,500,” said Love. “It’s like we’re trying to flatten out, but we’re not quite there yet.”
This week, he said health officials were looking for data on the potential impact of Labor Day.
“And of course the state fair is coming. We had football games in both high school and college. We just want to be very careful about what’s going to happen in the next few weeks, ”he said.
As hospitals and blood donation centers continue to cope with the pandemic, Gölzer said they would do their best to prepare as well as possible, even in the uncertainty.
“We just want to remind our community that blood only comes from one place and that from generous people who give for others. It’s essential and can’t be made, ”she said. “It’s kind of a reminder to all of us that being prepared means being prepared with your blood supply too.”
Other centers that partner with BERC include the We Are Blood and South Texas Blood & Tissue Centers in Texas, the Oklahoma Blood Institute, the Houchin Community Blood Bank in California, the Community Blood Center in Wisconsin, and the Central Pennsylvania Blood Bank . The network is to be expanded.
Organizations wishing to conduct a BERC blood drive should email BookABloodDrive@carterbloodcare.org with “BERC” in the subject line.
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