As it turns out, it's not just safe water that's in short supply right now. Another precious fluid is needed. As it turns out, it's not just safe water that's in short supply right now. Another precious fluid is needed.
Demand normally goes up around the Memorial Day weekend, about the time that donations ebb a bit.
The Community Blood Center last week was dangerously low on Type O positive and Type O negative, and supplies of Type A positive and negative and Type B negative were critically short. The center, at 800 S.W. Lane, is part of a network that supplies 78 hospitals in a 60-county region of eastern Kansas and western Missouri. And while Chris Beurman, manager of donor recruitment, says Topeka seems to always do well in donations relative to elsewhere, he said the critical factor right now is that donations overall are down. Beurman stressed that Topeka stands out with its generosity. We're not where we need to be, but it sure is making a difference.