The holiday rush has caused Mississippi’s available blood supply to reach “crisis” levels.

“We typically don’t use the word ‘crisis’ until our shelves look like they do right now, completely empty,” Merle Eldridge, Director of Marketing for Mississippi Blood Services, told Jackson TV station, WAPT last week.

Eldridge told the TV station that supplies were so low, some Mississippi hospitals were delaying elective surgeries to ensure they could meet critical needs in cases of emergencies.

At one point last week the blood bank only had six units of type O-negative blood. A single trauma such as a car wreck, could require 10 times or more than that amount.

To find a location near you to donate visit: https://www.msblood.com/calendar/