Jackson, Tenn.-based Lifeline Blood Services is experiencing a critical shortage of all blood types, reports The Jackson Sun.
While Lifeline anticipated low blood supplies and tried to prevent a critical shortage, the center's blood stockpile dropped to about a half-day's supply last week.
"During the summer months, our high school and college students are out, so we lose somewhere between 15 and 20 percent of our donor population," Lifeline CEO John Miller told The Jackson Sun.
However, Mr. Miller said the center did not expect to reach a critical shortage so early in the year.
"We're missing orders going to our hospitals right now because we've lost that volume already," Mr. Miller said. "Normally, we have enough to sustain us through the first several months of the year."
Lifeline is asking first time donors to give blood and encouraging college students and teens who regularly give blood to continue donating throughout the summer, according to the report.
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