By Pepper Fisher

PORT ANGELES – January is National Blood Donor Month, and according to Bloodworks Northwest, the country is currently experiencing the most prolonged blood shortage in years. Right now, Bloodworks NW says it cannot fill all hospital orders with supplies of Type O and A, which has dropped to just a half-day supply. Bloodworks spokesperson Meg Hall says hospitals are being advised to conserve their limited supplies for emergencies.

“Our focus is our local hospitals, and we can’t do that if the public doesn’t rally with us and find those donation opportunities and find where they are and be patient with knowing that they may need to travel a little bit further to make that donation, or not be able to get an appointment, maybe for a few weeks. But even if it’s not until a few weeks from now, making that appointment is incredibly important.”

Bloodworks is having a 2-day pop-up donor event this Thursday and Friday at the LDS church on Monroe Road in Port Angeles. Hall says she thinks all of those spots may be taken.

“If you check the day of, though, however, people cancel their appointments occasionally at the last minute. And that’s another struggle that we have is, we are asking, if you make an appointment, that you keep it. And if you need to cancel it, you know, things come up, schedules change, then just make sure and cancel it as far in advance as possible, because that will allow people who can get in to donate, to make that appointment.”

It’s a bit further to drive, but there are also 4 donation days set up in Port Townsend this month at the Elks Lodge. Bloodworks NW does have an everyday brick and mortar location in Silverdale, which is not as convenient as we may like, but Hall urges anyone who is planning a trip to Silverdale to consider also making an appointment to give blood while you’re there.

To make an appointment to donate go to bloodworksnw.org or call 800-398-7888. There is no wait to donate if you have received the vaccine, and all donation sites follow strict safety guidelines, with masks required.

“Fundamentally, this is a civic duty that we all have to, contribute to the blood supply. If anything should happen to not only ourselves, but our friends, our family, our co-workers, it’s not something we necessarily want to think about, but we need to be prepared. And there’s not a magic blood-making room in the hospital’s, right? That life-saving blood is only there if people in our community step up and make a blood donation. And that’s the only way that this system works.”