NEWS BRIEFS: Red Cross has emergency need for more blood

Staff reports  |  While thousands of people have responded to an emergency call by the American Red Cross for blood and platelet donations, there continues to be an emergency need for donors of all blood types, especially type O, to give now to address a severe blood shortage.

According to a press release, Red Cross blood donations are being distributed to hospitals faster than they are coming in, and right now there is less than a five-day blood supply on hand. The Red Cross strives to keep a five-day supply of blood to meet the needs of patients and to be prepared for emergencies that require significant volumes of donated blood products.

“Patients don’t get a summer break from the need for lifesaving treatments, so it is critical that hospitals have access to blood products each and every day,” said Patrick Lamontagne of the South Carolina Blood Services Region. “We sincerely appreciate those who have responded to the call to help save lives, but the emergency need remains. Those who haven’t rolled up a sleeve to give are urged to do so today.”

There is a particular need for type O blood, which plays an important role in ongoing patient care and emergencies. Type O positive is the most transfused blood type and can be given to patients with any Rh-positive blood type. Type O negative is the universal blood type and can be given to any patient. It’s what emergency room personnel reach for when there is no time to determine the blood type of patients in the most serious situations.

In thanks, all those who come to donate blood or platelets through Aug. 30 will receive a $5 Amazon.com Gift Card via email. (Restrictions apply; see amazon.com/gc-legal. More information and details are available at RedCrossBlood.org/Together.)

Donors of all blood types are urged to make an appointment at one of many area blood drives to give now using the free American Red Cross Blood Donor App, by visiting RedCrossBlood.org or by calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

In other Good News:

New aquatics center.  The city of North Charleston and Dorchester County School District Two will break ground 9 a.m. Aug. 8 on a new 53,00-square-foot aquatics center.  The $22.5 million facility, which will be built next to Fort Dorchester High School on Patriot Boulevard in North Charleston, is expected to be finished by late next year, according to a press release.

More airport traffic.  More than 2.1 million people flew in and out of Charleston International Airport during the first six months of 2018 – a 10 percent increase over the same six months in 2017.  “We knocked it out of the park in June,” Paul G. Campbell Jr., executive director and CEO of the Charleston County Aviation Authority, said in a press release.

Clyburn gets nod. U.S. Rep. James E. Clyburn, a Democrat representing South Carolina’s 6th congressional district, last week was named on a shortlist of black Democratic House members that could be the first black Speaker of the House. Clyburn has served in Congress since 1993 and has served as House Assistant Minority Leader since 2011. Read more here.

Revolutionary research. The next time you’re doing some Revolutionary War research, you may be able to do so from the comfort of your own home. S.C. Department of Archives and History has digitized some of the most popular Revolutionary War records and made them available online. Access the online records here.

Dropout rates.  Charleston County is mentioned in Lindsay Street’s Friday news story by sister publication Statehouse Report on lawmakers seeking a way to lower the high school dropout rate, which slightly ticked up in the most recent annual evaluation. One idea: Raising the age that students can legally drop out from 17 to 18.  Read more.