Local LifeSouth Community Blood Centers collected about 100 more donations than expected for their local blood drive, helping to ease the pressure of a recent blood shortage.
The blood drive, which ran Friday through Monday, was held to restock centers that are experiencing shortages due to a decline in donations over the holidays.
During the four-day blood drive, 338 donations were collected at the bloodmobile outside the Butler Plaza Regal Cinemas and at local collection centers, said Wendy Hill, LifeSouth branch manager for the Civitan region.
This far exceeds the average collection of 231 donations from previous years, Hill said.
Because the blood shortage is nationwide, collection centers low on blood can't import supplies from other centers, she said.
"People take vacations, their kids are out of school, and they're rushed with shopping and preparing for the holiday season," Hill said. "Blood doesn't take a vacation."
Although all blood types are still needed, the success of the blood drive helped relieve the shortage of blood types A and B in local LifeSouth centers, she said. An emergency shortage of blood types O and O-negative is still in effect, however.
Neon signs placed around UF's campus reading "Critical Blood Shortage" have been notifying students about current needs. Students contribute more than 50 percent of the local blood supply, Hill said.
UF Spanish junior Cedar Lane went to determine his blood type and donate Tuesday at an on-campus bloodmobile after seeing a sign advertising the shortage of type O blood.
After learning he was type A, Lane said, "I heard it's a good thing to know for emergencies, and I thought that if I was a type O, I'd definitely donate. But I decided to do it anyway."
If the blood shortage persists, local hospitals could have to cancel surgeries, Hill said, but she doesn't think it's likely.
"We haven't put our hospitals in any critical shortages yet," she said. "Hopefully we'll pull out of it."
