King lobbies for blood donation campaign

GRAY – Former Maine Gov. Angus King says that when he asks people whether they intend to donate blood, the reply is often “nobody asked.”

“We want all the people of Maine to consider themselves having been asked to donate blood,” King said Monday as the Red Cross kicked off its campaign to deal with the rising need for blood in New England this summer.

King said giving blood is a simple way to give back to the community.

Summer months present a problem each year, said Dr. Mary O’Neill, chief executive officer of the New England division of the Red Cross.

Fewer people take time to donate, which reduces the supply for accident victims, surgeries and those with serious illness, she said. Schools and colleges, where 15 percent of donors give blood, are out of session.

The Red Cross needs 1,400 pints of blood each day to serve 170 hospitals and more than 9 million people from Maine to Massachusetts. New England blood banks have roughly one day’s supply on hand, and the region relies on blood shipped from other parts of the country, O’Neill said.

Ideally, the banks would have three days’ worth of plasma available, she said.