DAPHNE, Ala. — Baldwin County Hospitals need 50 units of platelets per week — one per patient — to offset the demand of those with immune deficiencies, according to LifeSouth Community Blood Centers staffers.

Demand has surpassed supply, according to Pam Pace, LifeSouth’s regional director.

“We have high usage and low donors,” she said.

Apheresis donations — separation technology that extracts platelets — takes about two hours, she said. Donors can bring music devices or laptops — alternatively, LifeSouth provides movies to watch — and relax during the procedure. Donors are served coffee, juice and other drinks. The company serves lunch to donors, throughout May, as an added incentive.

“Where else can you get treated like royalty for an hour and a half?” Pace said.

Platelets are formed inside bone marrow and flow throughout the body for seven to 10 days after maturity, according to Pace. The cells help blood to clot at points of injury and are invaluable to cancer patients.

Radiation and chemotherapy weaken platelets in such patients, causing everyday activities to become potentially life-threatening, Pace said.

“Patient might die; if their blood won’t clot, they could bleed to death any time there is a cut on the finger or an open wound,” she said. “Cancer victims have to be so careful just being at home with a knife.”

Surgeries such as tumor removal are dangerous when blood doesn’t clot properly, she said.

Now, those on the Eastern Shore can help, without driving to Mobile or Pensacola, as they did before LifeSouth’s Daphne branch in Magnolia Place Shopping Center opened. The company will open a branch at Thomas Hospital in Fairhope to further encourage donations.

Donors must be 17 or older and have valid identification. All blood types are accepted; LifeSouth accepts walk-ins and appointments.

Donations are taken Monday though Saturday. Each donor is screened and given a health history exam.

To make an appointment or for more information, call 621-9644.