Red Cross seeks donors amid blood shortage

The American Red Cross is facing a severe blood shortage.

The agency is urging people to sign up to donate by offering the change to win a trip to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. The organization says that the number of blood donors in the US dropped 40-percent over the last two decades. It was down seven-thousand units alone between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

The Red Cross’s chief medical officer said in a statement that a blood shortage is “one of the most distressing situations for a doctor” and that it’s a “life and death” issue. The organization is working with the NFL to offer the trip, and said anyone who signs up to donate blood in January will be automatically entered.

There are several Red Cross blood drives coming up in our area in the next week, including from 11 to 3 Friday at the Brown County YMCA in Nashville, on Monday from 1 to 6 p.m. at First United Methodist Church in North Vernon, and on Tuesday, Jan. 16th  from 1 to 6 p.m. at Saint Paul Lutheran and from noon to 6 p.m. at Cornerstone Community churches in Seymour and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Saint Vincent Jennings Hospital in North Vernon.

You can schedule an appointment by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

TTWN Media Networks contributed to this report