But despite the Red Cross’ need for blood being met in Orlando, Stancil encouraged anyone interested in donating blood to continue to do so.
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“Community blood center is sending some of our supplies to Florida to help”.
“Unfortunately this tragedy reminds us that sometimes these things can happen anywhere, and the need for continuous blood donation to provide a stable blood supply is important”, said Belanger.
At the Community Blood Center in Appleton, there are a lot of regular donors.
Orlando weighs heavy on the minds of many people giving blood or platelets, but their own families well being in on their hearts.
Thousands of Florida residents also lined up outside blood donation clinics to donate Sunday and Monday after the early Sunday morning shooting at a gay nightclub left 49 people dead, along with the gunman, and dozens injured.
“There’s no reason to not accept blood from gay men in the era that we live in”, Newsome said. Although there aren’t any huge lines in northeast Indiana, Mac Aulay said the organization has received calls and a few additional walk-ins inquiring about how to donate blood.
While it had been previously reported that the ban on gay men donating blood had been temporarily lifted in Orlando after the attack, the Guardian quoted OneBlood as saying that the reports were false. Since Italy switched to individual risk assessments to screen blood donors in 2001, the country has not had any major uptick in HIV infections.
“I love it”, said Agirre.
The foundation says another 20,000 blood donors are needed to keep up with demand.
The summer is always a hard time of year for blood banks, said Duchess Adjei, regional communication director for the Indiana Region of the American Red Cross.
“But I am ineligible to donate blood”, Rob Domenico, a board member and chief fundraiser at The Center, Orlando’s main LGTB community center told the Associated Press.
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For everyone else, the rules allow men can give blood every three months and women every four months.
