There’s a great disturbance … in the D.C. region’s blood supply. But there is a new hope, so to speak.
Donate blood on Saturday at a participating Inova Blood Donor Services location and you’ll get a Star Wars-themed “May the Donor Force Be With You” T-shirt, while they last, and become eligible to win tickets to Star Wars Day at Nationals Park on Saturday, June 15.
“We’re really looking for that force of donors to help us with our patients,” said A.J. Hughes, manager of the fixed sites for Inova Blood Donor Services. “It’s been a very tough spring for us. We’ve got lots of blood shortages and this event is going to be terrific.”
Inova Blood Donor Services provides 90% of the blood used in Northern Virginia, and also supplies blood to hospitals in D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland.
Hughs said this area is “very dependent” upon high school students who supply about 15% of donated blood and that resource is susceptible to seasonal fluctuations.
“As the high schools start to wind down in April and May, we don’t have as many blood drives with them and it has quite the effect,” Hughes said. “We’re worried about going into the late spring and into the summer in a shortage.”
There are recurring, significant shortages of Inova’s desired inventory of units of blood in seven out of eight blood types.
“We go into a morning where we only have 20 or 30 O-positives, and we need 300 to get through the day,” Hughes said with a sigh. “Platelets are also difficult to maintain (in) our inventory. And the patients still can’t wait. We have to find ways to support our patients.”
Blood supply inventory with Inova Blood Donor Services is updated daily and can be tracked online.
Participating donation center locations for the May 4 event:
- CentreMed Donor Center
6201 Centreville Road (Route 28)
Centreville, Virginia 20121 - Dulles Donor Center
45745 Nokes Blvd. #160
Sterling, Virginia 20166 - Woodburn Donor Center
3289 Woodburn Road, #010
Annandale, Virginia 22003
To make an appointment, you can visit Inova’s blood donation webpage or call 1-866-BLOODSAVES (1-866-256-6372).
Inova requires donors to be at least 17, or 16 with parental permission. They must weigh at least 110 pounds. See what else is needed to be eligible.
