Phoenix Children’s Hospital in need of blood donations for the holidays
Dec 14, 2017, 5:53 PM | Updated: 9:54 pm
(Flickr/Dave Herholz)
(Flickr/Dave Herholz)
PHOENIX — ‘Tis the season of giving and the Phoenix Children’s Hospital is in need of blood donations for the holidays.
Sue Thew with United Blood Services, which is the sole supplier of blood for Maricopa County, said the week between Christmas and New Year’s is when the hospital sees the fewest blood donations.
Thew said Phoenix Children’s Hospital requires more than 900 life-saving blood components each month, but the month of December is when donations tend to hit a roadblock.
“People get distracted, which impacts blood supply,” she said, adding that the shortage of company blood drives often impacts the flow of donations as well.
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“We have hundreds of families counting on people to give blood. It’s sad enough that they’re spending their holidays in the hospital, we don’t want them to worry about blood [supply],” Thew said.
Blood has a shelf life of about 42 days. The hospital is seeing shortages of all blood types, but Thew said the hospital is in most need of O-negative blood: It has less than a one-day supply.
“It’s important for donors to come out,” she said.
In an effort to encourage people to come out and donate this holiday season, Thew said Streets of New York is offering free, medium pizza to anyone who donates this month.
KTAR News’ Jeremy Foster contributed to this report.
