Long-time DFW Hospital Council partner Carter BloodCare is committed to raising donor awareness of the nonstop need for blood, plasma and platelets throughout North Texas. For information, including donation locations, visit CarterBloodCare.org or call 800-366-2834.

Critical-need scenarios – such as mass shootings, natural disasters or large-scale accidents – can strain community resources. Most U.S. blood centers do not have enough blood on their shelves to handle these types of extensive disasters and are forced to request units from neighboring centers.

However, a network of blood centers has formed to ensure blood is available, without delays or uncertainty, when large disasters strike.

Carter BloodCare is a founding member of the Blood Emergency Readiness Corps (BERC), a group of more than 30 blood centers across the United States. BERC partners assist in crises that may deplete an impacted community’s blood supply.

BERC-affiliated blood centers are committed to collecting extra units on a rotating, on-call schedule. The network has been activated to provide type O blood in past emergencies such as a tornado outbreak in the South, and mass shootings in Memphis, Michigan and Texas.

If BERC is not activated, units return to the supply of the blood center that collected them during its on-call week. This ensures donated blood efficiently supports patients needing transfusions.

BERC partners raise public awareness of the importance of consistently donating blood, to help with emergencies and vital day-to-day procedures.

Carter BloodCare urges eligible donors throughout Dallas-Fort Worth to give, and to bring friends and family members to join them in donating. The blood center also coordinates blood drives with organizations and community groups that want to host BERC-related events.