Blood Emergency Declared in Oklahoma

By Amy Lester, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma Blood Institute said there is a critical shortage in all types of blood, and they are asking for the public's help.

The ice storm caused nearly 40 OBI blood drives to be canceled statewide because of the weather. OBI's blood supply dropped from a three day supply to just enough for one day.

"We'll take any blood type at this point but we are still in need of O Negs in particular," said James Smith with OBI.

When there aren't enough people donating and there are a lot of empty chairs, it causes a problem and hospitals actually have to change their procedures.

"I would sleep better at night if we had a plentiful supply of O Negative blood," said Dr. Roxie Albrecht, the head of Trauma for the OU Medical Center.

O negative is the universal donor type. Since there's not enough, the ER's stocked with O Positive instead, but it can't be used for every patient.

More blood donations would allow OU Medical Center to stock their fridges with O Negative for everyone. And more blood will help the state prepare for any disaster that comes this way.

The institute is asking anyone age 17-years-old and older, who isn't affected by the icy weather conditions, to donate this week.

Donors can schedule an appointment at any OBI site by calling (866) 341-8728, or visit http://www.obi.org to see a list of blood drives and donor centers.

Donors can visit any of these Oklahoma Blood Institute locations:
• Edmond, 3409 S. Broadway
• Midwest City, 1113 S. Douglas
• Oklahoma City, 5105 N. Portland
• Oklahoma City, 1001 N. Lincoln Blvd.
• Norman, 1004 24th Ave. N.W.
• Ada, 1930 Stonecipher Blvd.
• Ardmore, 1420 Veterans Blvd.
• Enid, 301 E. Cherokee
• Lawton, 211 S.W. "A" Ave.
• Ponca City, 518 N. 14th
• Tulsa, 4601 E. 81st

OBI also hosts a number of mobile donating sights at:

January 31

- New Hope Baptist Church
  37496 New Hope Road
  Tecumseh, OK 74873
  7:45 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

- Westside Lions Building
  4135 NW 10th Street
  Oklahoma City, OK 73119
  9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

- Quail Springs Mall
  2501 W. Memorial Road
  Oklahoma City, OK 73134
  10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

- Crossroads Baptist Church
  Hwy 377 & Hwy 32
  Kingston, OK 73439
  11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

- WalMart @ Ada
  1601 Industrial Blvd.
  Ada, OK 74820
  10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

February 1

- Bethany First Church of the Nazarene
  6789 NW 39th Expressway
  Bethany, OK 73008
  2 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

- Harrah Free Will Baptist Church
  101 S. Dobbs Road
  Harrah, OK 73045
  3 p.m. - 7 p.m.

- UMC of the Good Shepherd
  10928 SW 15th Street
  Yukon, OK 73099
  9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

- Western Oaks Christian Church
  8100 NW 23rd Street
  Oklahoma City, OK 73127
  9 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

OBI provides blood used by most hospitals statewide.