The American Red Cross is facing a emergency blood shortage after national supply fell more than 25% since July 1.
The organization said Monday that extreme temperatures and oppressive heat waves affected nearly 100 blood drives last month in nearly every state where the Red Cross collects blood. The weather affected participation in events or forced organizers to cancel them.
Normal blood donations slow below during the summer due to travel and other seasonal activities, but the Red Cross said extreme heat exacerbated the challenge, contributing to a shortfall of more than 19,000 blood donations in July.
The result is that blood is being sent to hospitals faster than donations are being collected, according to the organization.
Donated blood is used for a range of essential and life-saving medical treatments, including during surgery and childbirth. The Red Cross said the donations help save the lives of women with pregnancy complications, patients with traumatic injuries and people battling cancer and blood diseases, among others.
“Working with patients who urgently need a blood transfusion, I can’t imagine that blood wouldn’t be available to someone I cared about and needed it, especially a new mother or baby who was in need of a transfusion,” Melissa Destross, registered nurse in the labor and delivery unit of a hospital in Detroit, said in a statement. “I’ve seen postpartum hemorrhaging mothers receive massive blood transfusions, with blood loss exceeding seven liters.”
The Red Cross said blood donors of all types are urgently needed, but especially those with type O blood. Type O blood is routinely in short supply because type O positive is the most common blood type and type O negative is the most common blood type. universal blood needed for emergency transfusions.
“Type O is especially important for people injured in accidents and other traumas who receive emergency care,” said Dr. Barry Siegfried, medical director for the Red Cross in the Michigan region, in a statement. “Donors of all blood types can help ensure hospital shelves are restocked to prevent patient care from being impacted.”
Separately, a statewide blood emergency was declared in Connecticut last week as supplies fell to less than half of what is ideally needed to meet hospital demand.
The Connecticut Blood Center said it only has about a three-day supply of type O blood and added that type O blood supplies have not been this low since the start of the Covid pandemic, NBC Connecticut reported.
The center attributed the shortfall to seasonal spikes in traumatic accidents and a decline in donations. Launched an urgent appeal for donations of type O negative and type O positive blood.
The Red Cross is also encouraging people to donate blood by finding a local blood drive or making an appointment at a donation center (which can be found by visiting RedCrossBlood.org or by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS).
Those who donate by Aug. 31 will receive a $20 Amazon gift card, the Red Cross said.
This article was originally published in NBCNews. with
