Blood donations needed as school year begins, Red Cross urges

CREVE COEUR, Mo. – The American Red Cross is asking for blood donors as the nonprofit makes it through their summer strain.

Whether you're A, B, or O, the American Red Cross wants to help you check your A1C.

“We are asking people to donate blood this month,” LaKricia Cox, executive director of the American Red Cross Greater St. Louis Chapter, said. “We're doing free screening for A1C for diabetes and prediabetic screening. So, we're giving that to individuals who donate blood and have successful donation of blood, platelets, and plasma.”

With school starting across the region for some, the American Red Cross is hoping that back-to-school routines will result in blood donations getting back to normal.

“We typically see lower donations during the summer months, particularly in August,” Cox said. “Primarily because it's a busy time of year. You have people going back to school and trying to get on late vacations and then the kickoff of fall sports. So, we really try and do a big push around this time for blood donations, so we keep our blood supply to help save lives.”

The need for blood goes up in warmer months due to an increase in trauma incidents and visits to emergency rooms. But blame vacations for lower donation numbers in August.

And the need is great in the Gateway City.

“We know that in the fall there are definitely certain types of blood we definitely will need,” Cox said. “We need O positive and B negative blood. So, we want to make sure we have those donations, so we're prepared for the fall.”

In Missouri and Illinois, the American Red Cross Greater St. Louis chapter serves 19 counties. Visit www.redcrossblood.org to find the blood drive closest to you and find out your blood type, which might result in a lifesaving blood donation.