Image courtesy of LIFELINE Blood Services
LIFELINE Blood Services is one of 30 independent blood centers in the U.S. who collaborate to provide blood for mass transfusion. Called the Blood Emergency Readiness Corps (BERC), this partnership creates an added level of protection for the blood needs of the regions as well as providing the opportunity for LIFELINE blood donors to help in a time of crisis. The purpose of BERC is to be prepared for mass transfusion disasters that may strike and it’s goal is to create a resilient and reliable blood supply system that can respond quickly and effectively during times of crisis. Partnering blood centers are assigned rotations and LIFELINE wants the community to know that the week of Memorial Day begins their one week on-call rotation.
LIFELINE has committed to collecting units for our upcoming “on call” schedule which will create an available supply of blood for emergency needs. About 15 units of O Negative and O Positive blood will be set aside for possible deployment through BERC. If the units are not used, they will be put back in regular inventory for local distribution.
In an emergency, it’s critical to have a sufficient supply of blood components available at a moment’s notice. Support from Blood Emergency Readiness Corps ensures our ability to provide this lifesaving resource in a time of such great need.
“LIFELINE provides blood and blood products to 21 counties in West TN, but I know that in times of national crisis our donors are eager to help those in need wherever they may be,” Marketing Manager Melinda Reid said. “Our involvement in BERC creates that opportunity. If local donors are able to help, we urge you to come to our Jackson or Dyersburg Center or to find a mobile blood drive near you to donate. That way we will be ready if or when tragedy strikes.”
Maintaining an adequate blood supply is always a challenge during the summer months. Currently LIFELINE’s blood supply is low, so we urge our donors of all blood types to carve out the time to donate, but especially urge the O positive and O negative blood donors to donate as soon as possible.
The Blood Emergency Readiness Corps was founded in 2021 to meet the immediate
transfusion needs of partner centers when faced with a large-scale emergency situation that requires blood transfusions. To learn more and see a list of participating blood centers, visit bloodemergencyreadinesscorps.org.
LIFELINE Blood Services, located at 183 Sterling Farms Drive, is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome. The Dyersburg Center is located at 1130 HWY 51 Bypass, Suite 19 & 20, and is open Saturday and Wednesday 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., Sunday through Tuesday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
LIFELINE provides blood services to 21 West Tennessee counties, including 18 hospitals and 14 emergency helicopter service locations and 1 ground ambulance service. Annually, the Center collects approximately 26,000 blood products (red cell units, platelets, plasma, etc.) to meet the needs of patients. Of that total, 75% of those products are usually collected on the bloodmobiles across West Tennessee. LIFELINE also provides reference lab and cross-matching services to healthcare facilities. For more information, visit lifelinebloodserv.org.