Blood donors can help before disasters strike

Carter BloodCare encourages blood donations the week of April 3 to help Americans in need

BEDFORD, TEXAS – March 31, 2023 – As part of its founding role in the Blood Emergency Readiness Corps (BERC), Carter BloodCare is on call the week of April 3 – 9 to assist with U.S. emergency blood needs.

BERC is a group of more than 30 blood centers across the United States. Partners readily help following mass shootings, natural disasters and large-scale emergencies that may deplete an impacted community’s blood supply.

Centers participate on a rotating cycle every three weeks. Units of blood are proactively collected to build an available reserve for use during critical need events.  If BERC is not activated, the units return to the supply of the blood center that collected them during its on-call week. This ensures collected blood efficiently supports patients in need of transfusions.

Blood is needed 24/7 for emergencies and daily medical procedures

However, there is a nonstop need for available blood, especially type O negative. As the universal blood type, O negative can be used to treat any patient, regardless of individual blood type. It is also the only type used to help premature and unborn babies.

Eligible donors throughout North, Central and East Texas are urged to give at a Carter BloodCare donor center or mobile blood drive. It takes less than an hour to donate to save lives.

To find a nearby Carter BloodCare donation location, visit CarterBloodCare.org or call 800-366-2834.

Additional U.S. blood centers on call with Carter BloodCare are:

• The Blood Center
• The Blood Connection
• The Community Blood Center
• Community Blood Center of the Ozarks
• LifeServe Blood Center
• Miller-Keystone Blood Center
• Rock River Valley Blood Center
• SunCoast Blood Centers
• Vitalant

About Carter BloodCare

Carter BloodCare is an independent, community blood center providing transfusion resources to more than 200 medical facilities in 50-plus counties of North, Central and East Texas. The nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization is one of the largest blood programs in Texas, delivering more than 440,000 blood products annually to meet hospitals’ requirements for their patients. Services include collection, processing, specialized laboratory testing, storage and distribution of blood and blood products.

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