Blood donations increase following Chiefs championship parade shooting

By Claire Bradshaw

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    KANSAS CITY (KSHB) — The response from the community was almost immediate, according to Chelsey Smith at Community Blood Centers. She is talking about their donors, who she said showed up to donate on Wednesday after the fatal shooting at Union Station.

Smith said CBC didn’t have time to put out a call for donations to help support the blood supply before people were showing up and making appointments for the days to come.

“We immediately started to see donors coming in making appointments, coming in as walk-ins to donate blood because they knew there was going to be an immediate need for that,” said Smith.

Smith said CBC typically sends blood products to area hospitals ahead of a large event, like the parade, that has the potential for a large-scale medical emergency. CBC had to send more blood to hospitals following the shooting that killed one and injured 22 people.

“We did send hundreds of additional units and that’s in addition to what we sent prior,” said Smith. “The good news is that we were not in a blood emergency when this happened. This is why it is so important that we have a healthy and stable blood supply at all times because we can’t plan for this.”

Jason Bitter donated blood on Thursday. He said he is a frequent donor and encourages more people to dedicate an hour of their life to the cause.

“It is always an important thing to do. I know the hospitals have a continual need. We know doctors who always talk about the need for blood products. It is a great idea for anybody,” said Bitter.

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