Snow and ice have curtailed donations to the Puget Sound Blood Center, which serves 14 counties including Clallam and Jefferson, and Western Washington’s blood supply could reach an emergency level within a matter of days.
Michael Young, spokesman for the Seattle-based center, issued a plea for more donations Tuesday.
Blood drives are scheduled in both Port Angeles and Port Townsend on Friday.
The Port Angeles drive will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Albertsons parking lot, 114 E. Lauridsen Blvd.
The Port Townsend drive will be from noon to 3 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Port Townsend Elks Lodge, 555 Otto St.
The next drive in Sequim will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 1:45 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday at the Sequim Elks Lodge, 143 Port Williams Road.
No other drives are planned within the next week on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Many blood drives were canceled because of the icy road conditions, and the center has missed hundreds of donations, Young said.
“With more inclement weather forecast, we can expect to lose hundreds more in the next few days,” he said, adding that it takes more than 900 donor registrations every day to maintain an operational blood supply in Western Washington.
