LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The grass isn’t the only thing that has a tendency to dry up during the summer months. Blood centers also struggle to keep their shelves stocked as schedules tend to change this time of year.
“Maybe you’re taking vacation, or it’s an out-of-sight-out-of-mind thing,” said Mandy Brajuha, the vice president of external relations for the Kentucky Blood Center. “The other thing coupled with that is we go to a lot if high schools and colleges throughout the school year. Those (blood) drives don’t happen in the summer,” she continued.
Blood donor centers, like KBC, have to get creative during these downtimes, from car raffles in previous years, to handing out movie passes, to this week’s idea.
“We have been offering donors a $20 Amazon gift card yesterday and today,” Brajuha said.
She said the idea has been working, and that’s a good thing. The KBC isn’t at a critical point with its supply, but it wouldn’t take much to get it there.
“A trauma patient can use 50 units of blood in a couple of hours. We’ve had trauma patients use 200 units,” she explained.
She also said the need for blood spikes during the summer.
“They call it trauma season. It does cause blood usage to go up because people are out doing more adventurous activities,” she said.
The KBC Amazon gift card exchange runs through the end of the business day on Friday.
