Orange County Blood Donors Help Satisfy Need by Bay Area
A flood of good will from blood donors in Orange County and other areas of the state has given the Red Cross more than enough blood to send to the earthquake-stricken San Francisco Bay Area, officials said Saturday.
Joan Mueller, a spokeswoman for the Orange County chapter of the Red Cross, said that the county’s three blood collection centers in Santa Ana, Anaheim and Huntington Beach were flooded with donors after Tuesday’s 6.9-magnitude temblor.
More than 3,000 people were injured in the earthquake.
On Wednesday and Thursday, Red Cross workers collected 1,906 pints of blood, far surpassing a normal two-day total of 600 pints. Red Cross also collected more than $114,000 in Orange County.
“The reports we have received indicated that the blood needs have been met in San Francisco,” Mueller said. “It was a critical time, but the need has been met.”
Mueller said she was elated by the response. She said that on Wednesday, an Anaheim computer store owner closed his business and accompanied his employees to the nearest center to give blood.
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