He already has two one-gallon pins for blood donations, so the American Red Cross knows they can count on Hays resident Jeremy McGuire.  They wish they had more donors like him.

McGuire received  an emergency appeal phone call last week because the national blood supply has reached emergency levels.

Northwest Kansas ARC Donor Recruitment Representative Cathy Younger says there were 50,000 fewer donations than expected in June, leaving the Red Cross with just half the readily available blood products it usually has.

There are several factors contributing to the blood shortage.  “About 20 percent of our donors are high school and college students, so with school out for summer, we lose a lot of donations, ” says Younger.  The heat wave is also affecting donations.  “We have more deferrals than usual this time of the year, with people being dehydrated.”

Younger says every two seconds someone in the United States needs a blood transfusion.  The Hays Blood Donor Center is open Tuesday through Friday.