Florida Blood Services Opens Donor Center in Palm Harbor

Giving blood can be the most important thing a person does in their lifetime. 

According to Florida Blood Services Corporate Communication Manager Daniel Eberts, just one 500-milliliter donation of whole blood can save or sustain three lives 

That’s why FBS decided to open a new donor center in Palm Harbor, to help fill the gap between area branches and make donating easier for the many willing residents in the area. 

“We needed a center here for a lot of years,” Eberts says of the branch, which opened in May. “Previously, the nearest centers were in New Port Richey and Clearwater, so people had to travel a ways to donate.” 

“Palm Harbor is very residential, and we have a lot of donors in this area, so this makes it easier for them to donate regularly.” 

FBS operates 17 donor centers and 50 Bloodmobiles in the greater Tampa Bay area, supplying whole blood, platelets and plasma to 46 hospitals in five counties. 

But with 1,000 donations per day needed to meet the hospitals’ demand, there are times when the product is in short supply. 

That’s why Eberts stresses that giving blood should be done on regular intervals, not every few years or once in a while. 

“Medical science has learned to do all sorts of things with human blood, but there is no substitute for it,” Eberts acknowledges. “One donor can give complete doses of an important product that can help many people.” 

Eberts says state-of-the-art centers like the one at Sabal Ridge not only make donating blood quick, safe and convenient, it also allows donors to become familiar with the people and the procedures, which in turn makes them more comfortable — and willing — to donate. 

And contrary to popular belief, giving blood is a relatively painless and speedy process, as a couple recent visitors to the Palm Harbor center can attest to.

Sarah Lockey, a senior-to-be at East Lake High School, was donating for the third time when she finally talked her father, Michael, into joining her. Her dad was amazed at the lack of people in the facility, given what a simple but meaningful procedure it was. 

“Why don’t people donate more? This room should be packed every day,” Michael Lockey wondered. “The process was uneventful, the place is nice and clean. It’s so easy.”

When asked why it was his first time donating blood, Lockey had a simple response: "I never thought about it before," he said. 

Eberts said Michael Lockley’s reaction was an extremely common one. 

“You know the No. 1 reason why people don’t donate more? They never thought about it.”

For more information on donating blood, including tips for preparing to donate and donor center and Bloodmobile locations, visit the Florida Blood Services website.