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October 04, 2021
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Red Cross asks for routine blood donations amid national shortage

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The national blood inventory is at its lowest level for this time of the year since 2015, according to the Red Cross.

For certain blood types — O positive and O negative — there has been less than a half day’s supply available at times in September. However, the Red Cross said that blood and platelets of all types are needed by hospitals.

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“As this pandemic wears on, the need for blood remains constant. Currently, the Red Cross needs 10,000 additional donations from across the country each week over the next month to overcome the shortage,” Baia Lasky, MD, chief medical director of Red Cross Biomedical Services, wrote in a statement. “A single blood donation can help save more than one life. Healthy individuals are needed now and throughout the fall to donate and help patients counting on lifesaving blood.”

Increases in hospital admissions due to the SARS-CoV-2 delta variant have caused a decrease in the amount of blood donations expected for this time of year, when the supply usually rebounds from low summer levels, according to Chris Hrouda, president of Red Cross Biomedical Services.

Blood donations have decreased by about 10% since August, the release said. Meanwhile, the Red Cross sent about 12% more blood products than usual to hospitals this past summer, according to Pampee Young, MD, PhD, chief medical officer of the American Red Cross.

Empty shelves

Vanderbilt University Medical Center disperses hundreds of units of blood each day on average, although that can reach over 1,000 units depending on incoming trauma, Jennifer Andrews, MD, MSc, an associate professor of pathology, microbiology and immunology in the division of transfusion medicine and medical director of the Blood Bank at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told Healio Primary Care.

Andrews, who is also an associate professor in the department of pediatrics, stressed that spikes in local COVID-19 cases in the Nashville area have been followed by severe blood donation shortages.

“We normally have hundreds of blood units on the shelf for obvious reasons. I have never in my career seen empty shelves, and I have seen that several times during this pandemic,” she said. “Two weeks ago was the worst time in my career. We were putting off potentially very bloody surgeries because our hospital was aware of how low our blood supply was at that time.”

Other blood suppliers around the country are facing similar shortages, according to Andrews. “This isn’t something that is regional,” she said.

Making blood donations part of routine care

Many institutions like Vanderbilt Medical Center have returned to operating at normal levels, which has exacerbated the demand for blood. They have attempted to balance this need by running more blood drives and encouraging medical students and health care workers to donate regularly, according to Andrews.

“We recognize that this is a trying time for our country as we balance the new demands of returning to former routines with the ongoing pandemic, but lifesaving blood donations remains essential for hospital patients in need of emergency and medical care that can’t wait,” Hrouda said in a press release. “The Red Cross is working around the clock to meet the blood needs of hospitals and patients — but we can’t do it alone.”

A national blood shortage is impacting centers across the country. Source: American Red Cross.

Blood donations typically go to patients with cancer, those undergoing surgery and those receiving treatment for sickle cell disease.

The Red Cross stressed that individuals who have received a COVID-19 vaccine are not prevented from donating blood or platelets. The organization “asks that all healthy individuals make blood donation a part of their health care routine,” the release said.

Reference:

Emergency blood shortage – donor turnout reaches lowest levels of the year amid delta variant outbreak. https://www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and-events/press-release/2021/emergency-blood-shortage-donor-turnout-reaches-lowest-levels.html. Published Sept. 27, 2021. Accesses Oct. 1, 2021.