Three Texas blood centers are joining a newly formed blood reserve aimed at preparing for emergency situations, and Carter BloodCare is one of them.
"The Blood Emergency Readiness Corps is an idea that came out of this increasingly unsteady blood supply that we've been facing across the nation," says Linda Goelzer, with Carter BloodCare. "This is a first of its kind-- and it's kind of a proactive safety net.
The Blood Emergency Readiness Corps, or BERC, includes seven blood centers from five states, including California, Texas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. When Carter BloodCare is on-duty, the goal will be to collect 50 extra units of blood to set aside in case an emergency happens. The other blood centers will do the same.
"Having blood centers that are from different parts of the country partnership with each other ... kind of prevents something that might be a regional disaster." Goelzer says.
She says collecting the extra blood won't be easy, and the hope is that individuals, and especially organizations, will step up to donate.
"We want to be able to call on certain organizations in the future and say, 'Hey, our on-call week is coming up for BERC, would you like to do a BERC Blood Drive?'" Goelzer says. "We believe there will be organizations that will want to be more closely involved, and they may step up and say, 'We want to be a BERC organization.'"
More information about BERC and how to donate can be found here.
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