The non-profit blood center, The Blood Connection, is starting blood drives to help meet the need for Doctors Hospital.
AUGUSTA, G.A. – The Blood Connection (TBC), an independently managed, non-profit community blood center will now be providing blood for Doctors Hospital of Augusta. Through the pandemic, TBC proved its ability to supply a steady and ready blood supply for local patients. TBC’s reliability and consistency helps to ensure a robust healthcare system for trauma victims and the many patients who rely on blood transfusions. TBC already has a long-standing relationship with the Georgia medical community through its affiliation with several other hospitals in the state.
TBC, formerly known as Carolina-Georgia Blood Center, has served as a non-profit 501(c)(3) community blood center for 60 years. Its inception is closely tied to Georgia; the blood center was originally formed to be a blood provider for small hospitals in Georgia and South Carolina, before it eventually grew to become The Blood Connection. It is now the primary blood provider for more than 100 hospitals in South Carolina, North Carolina, and parts of Georgia. This expansion into Southeast Georgia begins a monumental chapter for the Augusta community and its healthcare system that has proudly joined the TBC family.
“The Blood Connection has proven its ability to consistently provide for our hospital partners when faced with many challenges and is proud to now serve the Augusta Region to ensure there are enough blood products for every patient in need,” said President & CEO of the Blood Connection, Delisa English. “Since there is no substitute for blood, we are reliant on community blood donors and are seeking organizations who are willing to step up and support the local blood supply by sponsoring blood drives. Blood donations save lives.”
TBC and Doctors Hospital are partnering to host a blood drive on August 25, 2022. To make an appointment to donate blood at this drive, click here. Although TBC is responsible for keeping the blood supply stable, it cannot replicate blood; it must be donated. TBC urges the community to donate blood to ensure that hospitals’ needs for blood are uninterrupted. To find other opportunities to donate blood, go to thebloodconnection.org/donate.
For Luca, and for any other patients in need of a transfusion, having blood available is critical. The past several years have been difficult.
The Blood Connection says the old regulations, implemented more than 20 years ago, were meant to protect the blood supply against a variant of mad cow disease, a fatal infection of the brain and nerve tissue.
In 1962, Dr. E. Arthur “Art” Dreskin launched what became known as the Greenville Blood Assurance Plan, which he served for 40 years. He died in 2006, six years after the organization was renamed The Blood Connection, which, since 1978, had been known as Carolina Blood Center, then Carolina-Georgia Blood Center.
CAROLINAS & GEORGIA – Today, the national Blood Emergency Readiness Corps (BERC), of which The Blood Connection (TBC) is a member, was activated to send much needed blood to the hospitals in and around Uvalde, Texas, the scene of Tuesday’s tragic elementary school shooting that claimed at least 21 lives and left several more injured. TBC has sent units of blood to South Texas and could be asked to send more if needed. Video of these units being sent to Texas can be found here.
“Our BERC Network was activated to help our partner blood center, South Texas Blood and Tissue meet the need of trauma patients at local hospitals in Uvalde, Texas,” said Nelson Hellwig, CEO of The Alliance for Community Transfusion Services and Administrator of the BERC program.
As part of their on-call week, the following community-based blood centers have rushed blood to the region: The Blood Connection; SunCoast Blood Centers; Carter Blood Care, Community Blood Center (Appleton, WI), The Blood Center (New Orleans, LA); Vitalant; Rock River Valley Blood Center; Community Blood Center of the Ozarks; Miller-Keystone Blood Center (Bethlethem, PA); and LifeServe Blood Center. Blood centers are on-call every few weeks.
Today’s activation marks the fourth time since its inception in September 2021 that the BERC Network has been called upon to provide blood during a national emergency. TBC has sent blood in response to two other emergency events so far.
“There are no words to express how deeply saddened we are about the loss of so many innocent lives,” said The Blood Connection President & CEO, Delisa English. “Because of BERC, we are at least able to help the people of South Texas and their local blood center. Times like these remind us of why we continuously urge our community to donate blood.”
The blood from BERC Network blood banks is being sent to South Texas Blood and Tissue, the steward of the local blood supply in that part of Texas. TBC has more blood in reserve to send if called upon again. In order to help other communities, the local blood supply must be stable. It’s important to have an available day-to-day blood supply on the shelves in the event of any emergencies – locally or BERC-assisted – when blood and time are critical. The community is urged to donate blood now at any TBC center or bloodmobile. To find a location, go to thebloodconnection.org/donate.
About the Blood Emergency Readiness Corps
The Blood Emergency Readiness Corps (BERC), a collaborative effort of 30 community blood centers, was founded in 2021 to meet immediate transfusion needs when faced with large scale emergency situations that require blood transfusions. These blood centers commit to collecting extra units on a rotating “on call” schedule to create an available supply of blood for emergency needs.