LifeShare in critical need of donations, surgeries put at risk due to blood shortage

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Organizers with the LifeShare Blood Center say there is an emergency need for blood across the Baton Rouge area as the center is unable to support the need of local hospitals.

LifeShare issued an emergency appeal last week – the first in 15 months – for blood donors after some surgeries and treatments were postponed because of the low blood supply.

Since then, LifeShare has seen an increase in the number of blood donors, but it hasn’t been enough to help overcome the unprecedented deficit.

Currently, LifeShare is running on a critically low inventory and isn’t filling many hospital orders. As of Sept. 3, LifeShare didn’t have any units of B negative blood in Baton Rouge and only had one unit of O negative blood. O negative is the universal blood type and is often given to mothers and infants.

“We would like to say we’ve seen an incredible response from the community thus far, but that’s not the case,” says LifeShare Regional Director Michael Pena. “The response has been mediocre, and we need big numbers to catch up. People are waiting right now.”

Buffalo Wild Wings in Covington at 3019 pinnacle parkway from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Buffalo Wild Wings in Gonzalez at 2001 LA 30 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Buffalo Wild Wings in Houma at 2783 Martin Luther King Blvd from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

LifeShare in Baton Rouge at 5745 Essen Lane from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Keller Williams of Denham Springs at 291 Veterans Blvd from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Delek in Krotz Springs at US 636 S Levee Rd from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Sopranos Supermarket in Livonia at 8389 US Hwy 190 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

LifeShare continues operating on extended hours at all of its donor centers. A list of all mobile drives can be found at LifeShare.org. The donor center in Lake Charles is scheduled to reopen on Tuesday, September 8th.

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