LifeShare Blood Center is urging blood donors to include giving blood in their holiday plans. Blood donations are urgently needed through the summer and, historically, there is a higher demand for blood products in July.

According to a recent Pew Research Center analysis, July 4th and 5th are the two busiest days of the year for U.S. hospital emergency rooms, accounting for nearly 91,000 patients combined. The biggest reason for the spike is due to injuries from fireworks. About one-third of fireworks-related injuries are burns, based on research from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Dr. Tim Peterson, Medical Director for LifeShare Blood Center states, “Burn patients use lots of blood products over long periods of time, especially red blood cells and plasma due to the loss of red cells and clotting factors with these types of wounds. Plasma and red blood cells are needed to maintain an adequate oxygen supply by the patient as they recover.”