Urgent blood shortage, but you can help

Shepeard Community Blood Center, the contracted provider for Augusta University Medical Center and more than 20 other hospitals across the two-state area, is in critical need of O Negative blood. They have less than a one-day supply, and as the universal blood type, demand is high.

Want to donate? Just visit shepardblood.org and click Find a Place to Donate. There, you’ll be able to find a donation center near you. And if you plug in your zip code, you’ll even be able to see where the mobile blood centers are on any given day.

Donors must be at least 17 years old (16 years old with a signed parental consent), weigh at least 110 pounds and be healthy and well on the day of donation.

The critical need doesn’t stop with O negative, however; the blood center reports that all blood types are needed right now, as inventory levels are low after the holidays and patient need is high.