/ Modified aug 8, 2017 11:30 a.m.

Blood Shortage Continues in Southern Arizona

Red Cross collections sites open every day in August

Donate blood hero Blood donations have slowed in Southern Arizona.
Andrew Brown, AZPM

The American Red Cross continues to experience a shortage of donated blood in Southern Arizona.

Blood donors have responded to recent calls to roll up their sleeves, but the chronic summertime shortage of blood continues. The Red Cross’ Samantha Bivens attributes that to regular donors simply not being here during the summer months.

"Generally over the summer months, especially June, July and August, we suffer from a severe shortage in blood donations, mostly because school is out, our winter visitors have gone home and people are on vacation," she said.

While Bivens said thousands of people have responded to earlier emergency calls for blood, the shortage is expected to continue into September. No medical procedures in the area have been yet affected by the blood shortage.

Blood types in need include O negative, O positive, A negative and B negative.

The Red Cross has two collection centers in Tucson, at 7139 E. Broadway Blvd. and 7325 N. LaCholla Blvd., in Foothills Mall. The organization's mobile units are in the community every day through the end of August.

It takes about 40 minutes to donate a unit of blood.

By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona