Blood Center Supervisor Jermey Puckett says his number one priority is ensuring a safe and adequate blood supply for the Lee Health system. “You always want to have products available before that, you know, accident, before that major catastrophe happens.”

However, the summer can bring a variety of challenges. “Summertime is always a drag on the blood supply. We have high schools that aren't in. That's one of our largest collectors. We have all of our snowbirds that have headed back north. So summertime is a huge drag for us every year. So we're out there trying to maximize whatever blood drive we're at.”

Platelets only have a fiveday shelf life, so their replenishment is vital. “Platelets are used in a lot of different scenarios. A lot of cancer patients are getting platelet transfusions on a regular basis. They can be used in trauma cases, open hearts,” said Puckett.

Every donation on the blood mobiles or fixed sites will be processed here and given out locally within days of collection. “Every type's important, right? To have it on hand, ready to go. Just because you're an APOS and it's a very common blood type, well, at the same time, you're going to use that more often if somebody's injured. So, we don't turn anybody away. We'll take everybody, regardless of blood type, and we'd love to see you,” said Puckett.

If you’re interested in hosting a blood drive, Lee Health’s Blood Mobiles are available. You can learn more by searching for blood mobile on leehealth.org.


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Lee Health in Fort Myers, FL is the largest network of health care facilities in Southwest Florida and is highly respected for its expertise, innovation and quality of care. For more than 100 years, we’ve been providing our community with personalized preventative health services and primary care to highly specialized care services and robotic assisted surgeries.

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