All types of blood donations needed NOW

Thru new billboards, the Blood Connection (TBC) hopes to generate awareness about the need for all blood types leading up to a “Missing Types” Blood Drive that starts Thursday.  The Blood Connection hopes to encourage younger populations to roll up their sleeves.  Those in the business of ensuring that hospitals maintain an adequate supply of blood are worried that, as the baby boomer generation ages out of the donor pool, younger donors are slow to come forward. Blood is divided into one of four main blood types — A, B, AB, and O — and these are based on the presence or absence of specific antigens on red blood cells. Blood types are inherited and consist of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma. While each type is urgently needed every day, the universal type O-negative tends to be the one most often transfused during emergencies, when there’s no time to identify a patient’s blood type.  Donors are asked to look for the Blood Connection’s red and white buses or go a donation center such as1308 Sandifer Boulevard, Seneca near the Oconee Memorial Hospital.