One local blood bank said their website crashed because of the overwhelming response.
People in Orlando were lining up outside blood banks to donate in the wake of the shooting at a gay nightclub on Sunday.
Kristen Keough / Via Facebook: Keogh10News
In the wake of the incident, in which at least 50 were killed and 53 were injured, the Orlando Regional Medical Center urged people on social media to donate blood at a local blood bank.
Many people answered the call, arriving in droves to prominent local blood bank One Blood.
Kristen Keough / Via Facebook: Keogh10News
One local news reporter described the blood bank as “overloaded” with people wanting to help.
At one location, people eager to donate spilled into the streets.
At another location more than 600 people were lined up to donate, according to reports.
More than 600 people in line to donate blood hours after #Pulsenightclub shooting — via @stevehelling
The response was so overwhelming that One Blood said their website crashed.
The blood bank network, which has locations all over Florida, said they urgently needed O+ and O- blood and AB plasma. However, they said all blood types could help.
Janet McGuire, a spokeswoman for the American Red Cross in Florida, told BuzzFeed News her organization does not accept blood donations in Florida, and asked those who want to help to instead contact One Blood.
She said the Red Cross doesn’t handle blood donations in the state because One Blood is a prominent group that is efficient at collecting blood.
“It’s already a great job they are doing at One Blood,” McGuire said.
However, the call for blood donations leaves out one group who desperately wants to help: gay men. Although the FDA ended an outright ban on gay men donating blood last year, gay men must be celibate for at least a year to donate.
AP / Toby Talbot
Many critics at the time argued that the decision represented little progress, as the celibacy clause was basically a de facto ban on gay men.
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