Red Cross Hosting Blood Drive Next Week in Beatrice

The American Red Cross will host a blood drive in the southeastern Nebraska town of Beatrice next Wednesday. The Red Cross transferred 200 units of blood to Kentucky to aid its recovery from recent tornadoes.

Emily Holley with the Red Cross said blood is needed for surgeries but also for regular use.

“They also have to have blood on hand for folks who rely on blood transfusions to maintain certain levels of health,” Holley said. “People getting cancer treatments that often need blood or platelet transfusions, sickle cell patients, folks like that rely on blood regularly.”

Holley said, as it stands now, blood supply is the lowest it's been in nearly a decade. She said blood donations were steady at the beginning of the pandemic but progress has slowed dramatically since this summer.