In the heat of the summer, it's easy to get wrapped up in plans for vacation, pool days and back-to-school planning. But local hospitals and blood centers have an important reminder for the summer: The need for blood donations doesn't end in spring.

The need for donors and volunteers rises in the summer for several reasons. While the demand for blood products remains steady throughout the year, donor and volunteer pools often shrink due to vacations. Fewer drives are hosted. And with students out for the summer, local high schools and colleges don't host the large drives that provide a backbone for local blood needs."I can't state the importance of blood drives in general, but especially in the summer months," said Sean Tinney, a representative from Miller-Keystone Blood Center. "We get on average 20 to 25 percent of our collections on an annual basis from high schools and colleges. In summertime, we're missing out on that blood. People are also on vacation this time of year. Their first thought is not to come out and donate. Businesses, churches, any organization that can put together a blood drive is greatly appreciated."Demand is highLocally, Miller-Keystone needs to collect blood from hundreds of people each day to maintain the area's blood supply. It's a big order to fill during summer months."We need to see 450 donors per day, on average, in order to supply our 21 local hospitals," says Tinney."When that doesn't happen, that's when inventory starts to drop and we start calling our donor base and telling them that we have an urgent need for their blood type, or maybe for platelets. If we go five, six, seven days of not reaching those 450 on average donors, that's when things start getting a little scary at the blood center."He said Miller-Keystone keeps just a three-day supply of blood at any given time."Most people think that blood is going to be there if they need it, or a loved one needs it, but that won't always be the case if people don't come in and donate," said Tinney. "It's very critical that people donate on a regular basis. The process is very simple, and very painless. That's what we have to reiterate to people who may be consider donating for the first time."The Red Cross's Eastern Pennsylvania Pocono Mountains chapter also sees fewer donors and volunteer-organized blood drives throughout the summer. Nationwide, the Red Cross saw more than 600 fewer than average drives the week after July Fourth, and has received roughly 39,000 fewer donations than normal over the past few months."I think it's important to realize that hospital patients don't get a vacation from needing blood," said local Red Cross representative Beth Toll."We're not always in a shortage situation, but we are in a shortage right now. Right now, the Red Cross has less than a five-day supply on hand," she said, adding that the Red Cross aims to have at least a five-day supply of blood products available at any given time, to account for donor fluctuations and emergency demand.These three- and five-day supplies of blood products include several lifesaving items, each of which has a shelf life of just a few days or weeks. Whole blood, which is given to surgery patients or accident victims to replace lost blood, must be used within 42 days of donating. Platelets, which are found in the blood and critical for blood clotting, are typically needed by cancer patients and premature infants. While platelets are always in high demand, they have a shelf life of just five days and each hospital's supply of platelets must be replenished frequently.Summer blood drivesBoth Miller-Keystone and the Red Cross have fixed sites that regularly accept donations. But the bulk of donations come from individual blood drives, which are organized by volunteers at sites throughout the community."Drives are extremely important. We collect 40 percent of the blood that we need from our four fixed sites, but the remaining 60 percent comes from blood drives," said Tinney.Local donors and drive coordinators are called to help for many reasons, but most have seen the benefits of blood donations firsthand.The Linda Muffley, Dylan and Gavin Krum Memorial Blood Drive will be held July 30 in Lehighton. It was started by Linda Muffley of Lehighton in 2010 after her nephew Dylan Krum passed away from pediatric follicular lymphoma, a rare childhood cancer."She thought it would be a good way to memorialize him, and to give back to others who are in a similar situation," said Mindy Tkach, Muffley's daughter and the current drive organizer.Dylan's brother Gavin was added to the drive in 2012 after also losing a fight with leukemia. When Muffley herself passed way from cancer, her name was also added."I knew once my mom passed that I had to keep it going," said Tkach. "We've seen the importance of blood donations in our family. My parents had always been blood donors.""The people in charge of our drive are wonderful," she added. "They're extremely grateful that people are willing to set up these drives. Without volunteers, none of this would happen."Jason Roeder is another one of those volunteers, scheduling regular blood drives and urging his friends, family and contacts to come out and donate. (Roeder is in the process of scheduling his next drive, which will be held later this summer in Lehighton.) He began organizing blood drives at his work nearly 10 years ago after losing his mother to cancer."It was just something that I could do to give back. She had used a lot of blood, so it was something I felt I could do," he said. "Every place that I've worked at since, I've coordinated them. I've also coordinated them for the local fire company in Parryville."Roeder typically calls 40 to 50 people for each drive, and is especially grateful for the group of ten or so people who attend each of his drives. He finds that it's harder to book donors during the summer because people are busy or away on vacation. Others aren't willing to dedicate the time - but he's quick to note that donating is relatively fast and painless."A lot of people say that it takes too long, but it takes an hour of your time to save up to three peoples' lives," he said.Roeder has also taken videos of his own donations."I'll show them that it's really not that bad. It's just a small prick," he said. "The amount of time that you're donating blood is 10 to 15 minutes. It's quick and painless. Just get out and do it."Where do donations go?Once blood is donated, it must be tested, sorted and promptly delivered to the hospitals where it is needed.All Miller-Keystone Blood Center donations stay within the region, going as far north as Hazleton and as far south as Reading. Miller-Keystone also services Hershey Medical Center.Red Cross donations are first used to meet local needs. The Red Cross also operates a nationwide blood supply network, which allows them to coordinate deliveries of rare blood types where they are most needed."That's one of the unique benefits of having a nationwide network," she said. "We can get the right blood products to the right patient, at the right time," said Toll.A healthy adult can donate whole blood every 56 days. Platelet donations can be made every seven days, up to 24 times per year. Double red cells can be donated every 112 days.For more information on upcoming drives or volunteering with Miller-Keystone, go to

www.giveapint.org or call 800-B-A-DONOR. Red Cross information can be found at

www.redcrossblood.org or by calling 800-RED-CROSS.