Blood Donations Drop During the Summer, But the Need Doesn’t

From Susie Nystrom. the Director of the Blood Center at Lee Health

It’s almost time for summer.

During this time of year, more of our community members are traveling while kids are out of school, and our seasonal residents go back up north. Unfortunately, this causes blood donations to drop. But the need for blood doesn’t drop. It remains constant.

At Lee Health, our blood centers are in need of donors to keep up our supply so it doesn’t become critically low.

If you’re able, please consider donating blood. At Lee Health, we are asking the community for blood donations to help refill inventory levels.

Donating blood is the ultimate gift, and doing it could save someone’s life.

As home to the region’s only trauma center, located at Gulf Coast Medical Center, it is vital that the health system’s blood supply remains at healthy levels in order to quickly care for patients needing an urgent transfusion.

Blood and blood products are not only used in the trauma center, but also to treat cancer patients, premature babies, anemia and a variety of other conditions. A single donation can be separated into a variety of blood components; the platelets may go to a child with leukemia, the plasma to a patient with a clotting problem, and the red blood cells to an accident victim.

Lee Health’s blood centers are the sole supplier of all blood products for the entire health system. About 800 units of blood are needed per week, and the blood centers rely on life-saving donations from the community to maintain inventory levels.

Donors of all blood types are welcomed and encouraged to help serve the needs of our community.

The Lee Health Blood Mobile will be at numerous locations throughout Southwest Florida this summer.

If you are unable to attend one of the blood drives, donations can also be made at one of Lee Health’s blood centers to help save lives. If you would like to donate, visit www.leehealth.org for more information.

All blood donated at Lee Health stays within the health system to care for patients in Southwest Florida.