Patient blood needs have substantially increased now that elective surgeries have resumed in Arizona.

According to Vitalant, there is a critical shortage of blood as supplies have been significantly affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Shelter-in-place orders led to 566 canceled blood drives since early March, resulting in a loss of 17,000 uncollected blood donations. The lifting of restrictions on elective surgeries has caused a 25 percent increase in the need for blood during the past several weeks.

The Town of Fountain Hills and Noon Kiwanis were able to hold their blood drive early in the shutdown and are now making plans for its next drive.

The upcoming Fountain Hills and Noon Kiwanis Community Blood Drive will look a little more familiar to donors than what they experienced in April.

The drive, scheduled for Friday and Saturday, June 19 and 20, will be held at the Community Center. The April event, due to the coronavirus, was conducted in mobile units provided by Vitalant, the sponsor of the drives in Fountain Hills.

To register for the June drive, call Dr. Liz Smith, 480-837-2600 (0) or 480-206-4785 or Paul Appeldorn, 480-836-8213. Registration also may be made online at bloodhero.com, using the sponsor code Kiwanis.

Donation hours are from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

All blood types are critically needed right now with an especially high need for types O-positive, O-negative, A-negative and B-negative red blood cells.

One unit of blood can be separated into several components: red blood cells, plasma, platelets and cryoprecipitate.