Hurricane Matthew is going to force OneBlood, the local blood center, to suspend operations along much of the east coast of Florida and into parts of central Florida.
However, other parts of the OneBlood service area are expected to remain open including Tampa Bay, Pensacola, Ft. Myers, Tallahassee, Panama City, as well as Thomasville and Douglas, Georgia. OneBlood is urging donors in these areas to donate as soon as possible to help ensure an available blood supply before, during and after the hurricane. These donations are vitally important to keep the blood supply strong and to provide support to the areas that are not able to collect blood when the hurricane moves through.
While all blood types are needed, there is an increased need for Platelets, AB Plasma, as well as O Negative and O Positive blood.
Hurricanes can disrupt blood collections, sometimes for several days. For a list of OneBlood Donor Centers and Big Red Bus blood drive locations, visit www.oneblood.org.
– Submitted