The American Red Cross has declared an emergency blood shortage, saying patients are at risk of not getting lifesaving transfusions.
…
Donors are needed now more than ever as the Red Cross faces a national emergency shortage, with the number of donors at a 20-year low. Medical director Dr. Eric Gehrie says the Red Cross has experienced a loss of 300,000 donors since the COVID-19 pandemic alone.
“It means that hospitals will order a certain number of units of blood, and those orders are not being filled fully,” he said. “So hospital blood banks are low on blood.”
Gehrie says the Red Cross supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood supply. He says emptier shelves could force hospitals to make excruciating decisions about which patients are prioritized for blood.
“Doctors have to make choices about which patients can receive a transfusion in a given day,” he says. “Surgeries like heart can be delayed waiting for the available blood to be collected and sent to the hospital.”
I’m in central Ohio. The regular place I used to go to donate regularly cancels my appointments due to staffing issues. I’ve taken to going to pop-up areas because those don’t cancel appointments. They only do whole blood and power red.
Yes, my understanding is that you have to schedule an appointment, although you can usually schedule for the next day.
Pop-ups doing whole blood, got it. As they get more desperate, I expect we’ll see more of these. And central Ohio has a lot of hospitals.
I find they tend to be at churches, libraries, or hospitals.