The idea of getting poked with a big needle and having some of your blood siphoned out is not at all a pleasant one.

However, people who are brave enough to get jabbed and allow some of their blood to be drawn out are a type of hero commonly called a blood donor. They save a lot of lives.

Donating blood takes about an hour, according to leaders of Lifeserve Blood Center, which has a facility in Fort Dodge. In that hour, a blood donor can save three local lives, they say.

Blood and blood products are needed by trauma patients, premature infants, cancer patients, organ transplant recipients and people suffering from all kinds of other conditions. And when those patients need blood, they need it right away. That’s why a good supply of blood is key for the state and nation.

That blood comes from donations. Now is the time for more people to roll up their sleeves and join the ranks of blood donor heroes.

Because a succession of winter storms kept blood donors at home and scrapped some planned blood drives, the need is acute right now. At the end of February, Lifeserve Blood Center officials estimated that they were short 900 donations of blood. And that was before last week’s one-two punch of nearly back-to-back storms.

We encourage anyone who is healthy and meets the criteria for donating blood to consider doing so.

For more information on donating blood or to schedule an appointment to donate at a different day and time, visit www.lifeservebloodcenter.org or call 1-800-287-4903.