A national call has been made for blood donations to help Hurricane Matthew victims being treated at hospitals in the southeast. The Rock River Valley Blood Center wants to answer the call for help, but it's going to require a lot more of us to roll up our sleeves and donate blood.

Blood centers all over the southeast have closed as evacuation and recovery efforts continue in the wake of Hurricane Matthew. Obviously, this is causing huge problems meeting the blood demands for all those injured during this massive storm.

RRVBC Director Heidi Ognibene recently told WTVO that the center has "been asked by our sister blood centers on the east coast if we would be ready to send extra blood if they need it."

So far donations have not been sent out East, but the time is coming, and RRVBC wants to be sure they are prepared during this time when blood donations are low as it is. Summer vacations and an increase in injuries has left the RRVBC with critically low levels of certain blood types, and currently they really need O+ donors.

Perhaps you can organize a blood drive today at work, or gather a group of people to head to the blood center to donate. Just one hour of your time can save up to 3 lives, and that, to me, is a pretty darn awesome way to spend an hour.

To find out more ways you can help the Rock River Valley Blood Center, check out rrvbc.org.

 

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