With centers closed, blood supply shrinks

Tillie Fong, Rocky Mountain News

Published December 22, 2006 at midnight

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The Blizzard of 2006 has left the state's blood supply very low after the storm shut down collection centers in much of the state.

"Blood donations decline during the winter anyway, but compounded with the closure of our centers, we were not able to do any collections," said Julie Scott, spokeswoman for Bonfils Blood Center.

Community blood centers were closed at noon Wednesday and remained closed all day Thursday, which means that an estimated 1,400 units of blood were not collected.

"We have a 3 1/2-day supply, but we like to have a seven- to 10-day supply to be prepared for any unexpected events," Scott said.

Bonfils also is one of eight blood centers in the country that has a contract with the Department of Defense to send blood to the military when it is needed. "We would like to have the buffer to support those kinds of needs," Scott said.

Typically, the center must collect 4,350 units of blood per week to meet community needs, she said. Donations typically drop 20 percent during the winter, when donors are busy with the holidays, and when more people tend to get sick.

Bonfils plans to reopen the community blood centers and have mobile units open at 10 a.m. today.

"We're just asking people to take a bit of time to come out and make a donation with us," Scott said.

To donate blood

• To find the nearest community blood center, go to www.bonfils.org or call 303-363-2300 to schedule an appointment.

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