State and National Red Cross Chapters Seeking Blood Donations

The American Red Cross says it is dealing with a chronic reserve blood shortage. The organization doesn't have the supply to keep up with the average rate of blood transfusions, which is once every three seconds. Barry Porter is executive director of the Triangle Red Cross. He says it is a daily struggle to convince those that can give to actually do so.

Barry Porter: Only five percent of the population gives blood where about 57 percent of the population is eligible to give blood. So it's not only the unwillingness but the awareness issue. People get busy in their own lives unless they see emergencies in front of them and they don't take the time to do it with all the schedules and hecticness of the day, so we have to ramp up the awareness.

The Red Cross says while all blood types are needed, O-positive, O-negative, A-negative or B-negative are in the shortest supply. You can log on to red-cross-blood-dot org if you want to donate.