San Antonio, Texas, May 24, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- All of us at South Texas Blood & Tissue have the community of Uvalde in our hearts and prayers.
Thanks to generous blood donors, we were able to send 15 units of blood to Uvalde via helicopter to be available at the site of the shooting and at the area hospitals. Later Tuesday afternoon, we received a request and sent an additional 10 units of blood to a hospital in Uvalde.
We will continue to work with hospitals in the area to make blood available as it's needed and to rebuild their supplies for other patients in need.
This tragedy highlights the importance of always having blood available on the shelf and before it’s needed.
As we enter a long holiday weekend and the beginning of the summer travel season, our community and others across the country are facing a historic need for blood.
The public is urged to schedule a blood donation at their community blood center, and for those in our community of South Texas, at SouthTexasBlood.org or by calling 210-731-5590. You also may schedule a blood donation at University Hospital’s donor center at 210-358-2812 or visit DonateBloodToday.com.
At South Texas Blood & Tissue, same-day appointments and walk-ins are available at donor rooms, with locations open with normal business hours during the holiday weekend. To find our locations and hours, visit SouthTexasBlood.org.
We will hold an emergency blood drive in Uvalde on Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Herby Ham Activity Center. The drive has already filled up with appointments. There will be interview and video opportunities available.
Emergency blood delivery helicopter footage available for use here.
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About South Texas Blood & Tissue: South Texas Blood & Tissue (STB&T) is a nonprofit community blood center that provides blood, plasma, platelets and other blood components to 100 hospitals in 48 South Texas counties. It is the largest blood supplier in our region. In addition, STB&T supports the development of advanced therapies, including those derived from donated human cells and tissues used in research and in new therapies and cures for cancers and degenerative diseases. Through the generous life-legacy gifts of human tissue, STB&T also supports development of tissue allografts for patients in need of reconstructive surgery, repair or tissue regeneration. STB&T has a 47-year history serving the South Texas community and is part of the BioBridge Global family of nonprofit organizations, which offers services in regenerative medicine and research including blood banking and resource management; cellular therapy; umbilical cord blood collection and storage; donated human tissue recovery and distribution for transplant; and testing of blood and plasma products to help patients in the United States and worldwide. STB&T has eight donor centers in South Texas and conducts hundreds of mobile blood drives each year. STB&T is online at SouthTexasBlood.org.
