Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Supply and demand are usually at an imbalance when it comes to blood donations, but that’s especially the case right now.

That’s according to ImpactLife Donor and Government Relations Manager Jim Watts.

“The demand for blood usually goes up during the summer,” said Watts.  “As people are out and about more, travelling, et cetera, our local hospitals can see more patients coming in; therefore, possibly needing additional units of blood.  We see the demand go up, and we see struggles with the supply, as we’re not seeing as many people come out and donate blood.”

Watts refers to the fact that schools and other organizations have more blood drives during the school year, but not when school is out.

ImpactLife used the Springfield Memorial Hospital ER as a backdrop Thursday to encourage more donations, as they are the main supplier to many hospitals.

An Emergency Room Doctor at Memorial says simply put, the risk for accidents that could cause more injuries, especially traumatic ones that call for the use of blood transfusions as well as donations of blood platelets.

“We evaluate them alongside the trauma team, based on their vitals like their heart rate and blood pressure,” said Dr. Nida Feller, who works at Memorial Hospital facilities in Springfield, Decatur, and Lincoln.  “Based on those types of things, a low blood pressure and a high heart rate, as well as a certain type of pain — for example, like abdominal pain — is really one of our bigger areas that we worry about.”

There were blood donations made in the aftermath of the fatal accident in Chatham several weeks ago, but donations don’t have a long shelf life, and may never make it that long anyway.

“The shelf life for blood is 42 days,” said Watts.  “While we do have the six weeks for that unit, in all reality — especially hospitals like this — the blood goes off the shelf pretty quick.  Most blood products are used within seven to fourteen days.”

The most used type of blood, O-Negative, is in especially short supply, Watts said, as there’s only about a two day supply of it at the moment.

In addition to any blood drives that may be held, there are incentives available for younger people especially for people to come in to an ImpactLife center to donate.

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