By tomorrow morning, there will be zero O Negative donations on the shelves. The nine units there currently, will ship in the early hours to local hospital patients already in need of that blood type – barring an overnight emergency depleting them in advance.

According to Lisa Mayles, LifeShare spokesperson, in an average week the charity ships 35 donations of O Negative blood to the hospitals in the region. In the past week, however, 91 units have been transfused, primarily in emergency situations.

“In addition to those patients already requiring O Negative blood for non-emergency treatments, in the past week, our local hospitals have required an unusually high number of units for bleeders and a particularly challenging open-heart surgery procedure,” said Mayles.

According to Mayles, the Blood Center maintains a strategic frozen blood reserve for exactly this kind of emergency; however, in the last two months, that supply of O Negative has dropped from 290 units to only 35 remaining. “At this pace, the strategic reserve will be depleted entirely in two days,” she added.

While the chronic O Negative shortage is currently exacerbated by the recent medical emergencies, Mayles indicated the root of the problem lies in the Do-Not-Call (DNC) List. Currently, LifeShare has over 2,000 O Negative donors who have placed themselves on the List and are unable to alert them to the problem. LifeShare officials are making a plea to those on the List to donate immediately and also consider removing their DNC-status to help avoid this type crisis in the future.

In addition to being the only source of blood to Lorain County and the primary source to Stark County, LifeShare provides over half the blood needed across the seven-hospital University Hospitals Health System. The Blood Center is also a large provider of blood and components to other hospitals in the region including the Cleveland Clinic system.

“This is a very dangerous situation. A single auto accident or trauma victim can use 50 donations and it’s the blood already tested and on the shelves that saves the life. O Negative blood is the only blood type that can be safely given to anyone regardless of their own blood type,” offered Mayles.

LifeShare is asking everyone with O Negative blood who is at least 17 and in generally good health to please donate blood immediately.

Walk-in donors are always welcomed gratefully. The number to call to make an appointment to donate blood is toll-free: 1 (866) 644-Life (5433), or through the charity’s website: www.lifeshare.cc.

As a major provider of blood to the region, LifeShare has seven permanent, neighborhood donor facilities across Northeast Ohio. The Blood Center distinguishes itself by keeping blood in the community where it was donated.