Salem Police To Host Blood Drive Amid National Crisis

SALEM, MA — The Salem Police Department will host a blood drive amid a national shortage this holiday season.

The Salem police blood drive will be on Dec. 20 from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the station located at 95 Margin Street. Click here to pre-register.

In January, the American Red Cross declared its first-ever national blood crisis due to a severe blood shortage resulting from complications of the COVID-19 pandemic. During that time, hospitals and physicians were forced to make difficult decisions about how to best use the limited available supply of donated blood.

The Red Cross said one in seven patients entering the hospital will need a blood transfusion — whether they are accident and burn victims, heart surgery and organ transplant patients, or those receiving treatment for leukemia, cancer or sickle cell disease.

The Red Cross must collect approximately 12,500 blood and nearly 3,000 platelet donations every day.

The Red Cross encourages those who are eligible to commit to donating on a regular basis.

Those who cannot make the Salem police blood drive can find another blood drive on the North Shore here.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)