An emergency blood shortage is prompting the American Red Cross to issue an urgent call for eligible donors of all blood types – especially type O – to give now and help save lives.

The Red Cross escalated its call for blood and platelet donors after a difficult Independence Day week for donations, according to a press release.

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More than 550 fewer blood drives were organized by businesses and other community groups last week than during a typical week as individuals across the country celebrated the holiday and enjoyed summer activities. This could equate to as many as 15,000 fewer donations than needed, causing donations to now be distributed to hospitals faster than they come in.

“Each and every day, individuals across the country depend on blood and platelet donations for lifesaving treatments and emergency care, so it’s critical that people donate now to meet these needs,” said Cliff Numark, senior vice president, Red Cross Blood Services. “Whether you’ve never donated or give a couple of times a year, you’re needed to give as soon as possible to help save patient lives. Yours may be the donation a patient is counting on.”

This need is especially critical for type O blood donors. Type O is the most in-demand blood type and often the first be depleted from hospital shelves during a shortage. Type O negative is the universal blood type and what emergency room personnel reach for when there is no time to determine the blood type of patients in the most serious situations. Type O positive is the most common blood type and can be transfused to Rh-positive patients of any blood type.

To schedule an appointment to donate, use the free Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit RedCrossBlood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767). The Red Cross has added about 6,500 additional appointment slots at donation centers and community blood drives across the country over the next few weeks to accommodate more donors. Donation appointments and completion of a RapidPass online health history questionnaire are encouraged to help reduce the time it takes to donate.

Because of generous donors, the Red Cross is able to provide blood products for patients like 9-month-old Krew Anderson. Krew is a happy, laid-back baby boy. His wide grin frames two tiny teeth. He likes to play with balloons and just experienced his first boat ride and fireworks show, but Krew has faced more challenges in the last four months than many people will experience in a lifetime.

In March, Krew was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a type of cancer that causes bone marrow to produce a large number of abnormal blood cells. Since then, he has gone through four rounds of chemotherapy and received 15 blood and platelet transfusions to date.

“The first time he got [a transfusion], I was just super nervous and didn’t know really what was happening,” said his mother, Stephanie Anderson. “Now, when he gets one, I’m like, ‘Yes, please, get him some blood to help him get more energy and back to normal.’”

Krew’s father, Richard Anderson, donated blood a couple of times a year prior to his son’s diagnosis, but after seeing Krew receive blood, he now plans to give as soon as he’s eligible again.

“For me, just knowing that if it happened to me, it can happen to anyone. I want to make sure there’s enough blood out there for everyone, and that there’s no shortage,” he said.

Facing a decline of about 80,000 new Red Cross blood donors each year for the past several years, the Red Cross launched the Missing Types campaign in June to encourage new donors, and those who have not given recently, to donate blood. While the campaign has already inspired thousands of new donors to give, the Red Cross is now calling onall eligible blood and platelet donors to roll up a sleeve as soon as possible to overcome the emergency blood shortage.

Through the Missing Types campaign, which runs throughout the summer, the letters A, B and O – letters used to identify blood types – disappeared from corporate logos, celebrity social media accounts and favorite websites to illustrate the critical role every blood donor plays in ensuring blood is never missing from hospital shelves.

31 Easton Road

Willow Grove, PA 19090

Monday – Wednesday: 11:45 a.m.-6 p.m. (platelet pheresis)

Thursday – Sunday: 7:15 a.m.-1:15 p.m. (platelet pheresis)

7/9/2018: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., Abington Public Safety Training Facility, 2200 Florey Lane

7/9/2018: 1:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m., Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Church, 1501 Ferndale Ave.

7/13/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., Our Lady Help of Christians, 1500 Marian Road

7/31/2018: 1:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m., Living Word Lutheran Church, 1250 N. Easton Road

7/21/2018: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., Ambler Area YMCA, 1325 McKean Road

7/23/2018: 1 p.m. – 6 p.m., Trinity Episcopal Church, 708 S. Bethlehem Pike

7/31/2018: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., Remax Action Reality-Maple, 1126 Horsham Road

7/27/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, 2725 Egypt Road

7/24/2018: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., Pearson Vue, 3 Bala Plaza W.

7/25/2018: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., Keystone Property Group, VEVA 17, 1787 Sentry Parkway W.

7/27/2018: 1 p.m. – 6 p.m., Whitpain Township Building, 960 Wentz Road

7/31/2018: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., Office Building, 721 Arbor Way

7/11/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., Courtyard Marriott, 600 Campus Drive

7/20/2018: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., Ursinus College, Wismer Building, 601 E. Main St.

7/23/2018: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., St. Eleanor’s Roman Catholic Church, 647 Locust St.

7/24/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., St. Eleanor’s Roman Catholic Church, 647 Locust St.

7/13/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 508 Harry St.

7/17/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., Spring Mill Fire Company, 1210 E. Hector St.

7/31/2018: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., Brandywine Realty Trust, 101 W. Elm St.

7/11/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., Eagle Rock Apartments, 1235 Ashbourne Road

7/19/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., Keneseth Israel, 8339 Old York Road

7/20/2018: 7 a.m. – 12 p.m., MossRehab-Einstein at Elkins Park, 60 E. Township Line Road

7/25/2018: 2:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., Adath Jeshurun Synagogue, 7763 Old York Road

7/19/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., Or Hadash, 190 Camp Hill Road

7/20/2018: 12 p.m. – 5 p.m., Upper Dublin Township Building, 801 Loch Alsh Ave.

7/26/2018: 6:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Johnson & Johnson Consumer, Inc., 7050 Camp Hill Road

7/30/2018: 1:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m., New Hanover Township Recreation Center, 2373 Hoffmansville Road

7/9/2018: 8 a.m. – 1 p.m., Beth David Reform Congregation, 1130 Vaughn Lane

7/18/2018: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., St. Christopher’s Church, 226 Righters Mill Road

7/19/2018: 2:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., St. John Vianney Church, 350 Conshohocken State Road

7/16/2018: 9 a.m. – 7 p.m., Arcadia University, Kuch Center, 450 S. Easton Road

7/24/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., North Penn VFW Post No. 676, 2519 Jenkintown Road

7/31/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., Ardsley Community Education Center, 2828 Spear Ave.

7/12/2018: 3 p.m. – 8 p.m., Indian Valley YMCA, 890 Maple Ave.

7/23/2018: 1:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m., Plains Mennonite Church, 50 Orvilla Road

7/14/2018: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., Memorial Church of God in Christ, 747 Buck Lane

7/20/2018: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., Haverford Township Community Center, 9000 Parkview Drive

7/15/2018: 8 a.m. – 1 p.m., Days Inn, 245 Easton Road

7/16/2018: 1 p.m. – 6 p.m., Wawa, 1510 Easton Road

7/31/2018: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., Workspace Properties, 5 Walnut Grove Drive

7/19/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., Jeffersonville Golf Club, 2400 W. Main St.

7/11/2018: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., AT&T, 200 N. Warner Road

7/12/2018: 9 a.m. – 7 p.m., Neiman Marcus, 170 N. Gulph Road

7/16/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., Upper Merion Township Building, 175 W. Valley Forge Road

7/17/2018: 9:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., Parkview Tower, 1150 First Ave.

7/19/2018: 8 a.m. – 1 p.m., Perspecta, 720 Vandenburg Road

7/19/2018: 1 p.m. – 6 p.m., Temple Brith Achim, 481 S. Gulph Road

7/24/2018: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., Fiserv and BPG Management Company, 455 S. Gulph Road

7/25/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., Valley Forge Towers, 4000 Valley Forge Circle

7/11/2018: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., Whitemarsh Township Building, 616 Germantown Pike

7/27/2018: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., Masonic Village at Lafayette Hill , 801 Ridge Pike

7/9/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., Christ United Methodist Church, 1020 S. Valley Forge Road

7/11/2018: 9 a.m. – 7 p.m., The Reserve at Gwynedd, 301 Primrose Drive

7/12/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., Covenant Community Fellowship Church, 1080 Sumneytown Pike

7/18/2018: 12 p.m. – 5 p.m., Abington-Lansdale Hospital, 100 Medical Campus Drive

7/23/2018: 3 p.m. – 8 p.m., North Penn High School, 1340 Valley Forge Road

7/25/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., Morgandale Condominiums, 1015 Forty Foot Road

7/13/2018: 1:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m., St. James Lutheran Church, 93 Kugler Road

7/24/2018: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., Norristown State Hospital, Building 33, 1001 Sterigere St.

7/11/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., Dunkin’ Donuts, 108 Black Rock Road

7/10/2018: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., Beth Am Israel Synagogue, 1301 Hagys Ford Road

7/16/2018: 1 p.m. – 6 p.m., Church on the Mall, 500 W. Germantown Pike

7/16/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., Comfort Inn, 99 Robinson St.

7/25/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., Ringing Hill Fire Company, 815 White Pine Lane

7/17/2018: 3 p.m. – 8 p.m., Trinity Lighthouse Church, 66 S. Limerick Road

7/30/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., Royersford United Methodist Church, 380 Church St.

8/3/2018: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., Skippack Township Building, 4089 Heckler Road

7/15/2018: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, 2021 E. Township Line Road

7/24/2018: 12:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m., Calvary Church of Souderton, 820 Route 113

7/27/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., Immanuel Leidy’s Church, 273 W. Cherry Lane

7/30/2018: 3 p.m. – 8 p.m., Telford VFW Post No. 5308, 395 W. Broad St.

7/23/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., Tylersport Volunteer Fire Company, 125 Ridge Road

7/12/2018: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., ASTM, 100 Barr Harbor Drive

7/10/2018: 3 p.m. – 8 p.m., Calvary Presbyterian Church, 405 N. Easton Road

7/16/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., St. David’s Church, 316 N. Easton Road

7/28/2018: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., Olive Garden, 2328 Moreland Road

7/26/2018: 7 a.m. – 5 p.m., Lankenau Medical Center, 100 Lancaster Ave.

7/27/2018: 7 a.m. – 5 p.m., Lankenau Medical Center, 100 Lancaster Ave.

7/30/2018: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., Main Line Reform Temple, 410 Montgomery Ave.