The American Red Cross recently announced a staggering decrease in its national blood inventory as this year’s emergency shortage persists.
The dire need for blood donations was evident in an August 5 press release, in which the nonprofit offered a $20 Amazon gift card to everyone who gives blood this month. In July, the national blood inventory fell by over 25%.
According to the organization—which collects donations to provide crucial care for patients in need of blood, plasma, and platelet transfusions—the “record setting heat” this summer has “significant[ly]” impacted roughly 100 blood drives held in the past month. This has only worsened the “typical season obstacles” for gathering enough donations, including vacation.
But the demand for blood donations has not lessened in American hospitals. The Red Cross noted that it has instead “remained constant” and been “rapidly” using up the limited blood supply. Both the nonprofit and hospitals nationwide are struggling with the shortages. Specifically, the Red Cross has pointed out that there is a more urgent need for type O blood, which has decreased to “below hospital comfort levels” in “recent weeks.”
In Arizona, a blood bank organization is working to fill the gap and spread the alarm about the potentially life-threatening shortage. Vitalant is a nonprofit based out of the Grand Canyon State which runs blood banks throughout the country. In Nevada alone, the group is planning to host over 50 drives in August.
Sheila Macdonell Spiess, a donor at a local blood drive who worked as a trauma nurse for 47 years, recently commented that the need for blood is not new, though the numbers of this shortage are alarming. She pointed out that there are “always” patients in need of blood for various reasons, including gunshot wounds, car crashes, stabbings, and leukemia.
She emphasized that the medical field “always [has] a need” for sufficient blood supply, regardless of “what time of year.” Speaking about the type O shortage, the retired nurse said that this kind is the “universal donor,” meaning it is given to those who are in need of blood “right away” before the hospital can determine their blood type.
But last month, Vitalant’s supply of type O reached its lowest rate in 18 months. This crucial supply could lead to turning away patients who are in need of quick transfusions. Vitalant is currently working to stock type O blood to have at least a four-day supply readily available.
When asked about the shortage, the divisional chief medical officer of the Red Cross, Dr. Baia Lasky, explained that there is a 5% increased risk of death for every minute that the supply of blood products needed by trauma patients is pushed back, making adequate supply “absolutely critical” for patients in such emergencies to survive.
The emergency announcement followed a similar call for donations in January, when the Red Cross declared that it was seeing the lowest rates of blood donations in the past 20 years. In that call to action, the nonprofit emphasized the need for blood and platelets and offered an opportunity to win tickets to Super Bowl LVIII, in collaboration with the NFL.
