SAN ANTONIO – The blood supply in South Texas is in "critical low" levels, South Texas Blood and Tissue Center officials said.
Blood donations in South Texas are down 21 percent from four years ago and at the lowest levels in 30 years nationwide, said Julie Vera, a spokeswoman for the center.
"Recently, in the past couple of weeks, we've had a spate of trauma victims in our city here in San Antonio who required blood," Vera said. "And we actually had to import blood from other blood centers to be able to make that supply available to our hospitals."
Vera said blood is also needed for cancer treatments and for organ transplants.
She said summer is generally a season for low blood donations because 25 percent of the blood supply comes from high school and college students, who are on summer break. The threat of the Zika virus is another factor.
"If someone has traveled to Mexico, the Caribbean, South or Central America, they cannot donate for 28 days after they've been back in the United States," Vera said.
Hospitals that rely on blood from the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center will have to start postponing elective surgeries because there is just not enough blood on the shelf.
"We supply hospitals all across the region, and we're at critically low levels in our blood supply," Vera said. "So, we're really asking people, now more than ever, to please come and donate."
Vera said one blood donor can help three patients.