National Blood Supply Dropped 25%, Causing Critical Shortage

Last week, the American Red Cross announced a national blood shortage across the United States. In addition to a dire need for blood due to natural disasters and climate crises, the organization revealed that blood donations have dropped 25% since early August.

According to the announcement by the Red Cross, climate disasters have increased the need for donors while significantly cutting into the potential donor supplies, as blood drives and collection centers have been canceled or closed out of concern for patient and worker safety.

As Hurricane Lee hits the northeast US, more shortages are anticipated in the coming month. The Red Cross estimates that Hurricane Idalia, which hit the southeast a few weeks ago, resulted in 700 uncollected units of blood and platelets.

Beyond the impacts of climate change, August donor turnout dropped significantly due to a bus travel season and back-to-school activities. The drop in donor turnout contributed to a 30,000 donation reduction in August alone.

“Right now, blood product distributions to hospitals are outpacing the number of blood donations. Approximately 2,500 hospitals and transfusion centers across the country rely on the Red Cross to collect 12,5000 blood donations each day to meet the needs of their patients,” noted the Red Cross.

Statistics from the organization estimate that every two seconds, someone in the US needs blood or platelets, contributing to average daily usage of 29,000 units of red blood, 6,500 units of plasma, and 5,000 units of platelets.

Nationally, healthcare centers transfuse roughly 16 million blood components annually.

“For so many patients living with urgent medical care needs, crises don’t stop with natural disasters,” said Pampee Young, MD, PhD, chief medical officer for the American Red Cross, in the press release. “In fact, in some instances, the stress of a disaster can lead to a medical crisis for some individuals battling sickle cell disease. The need for blood is constant. Every two seconds, someone in the US needs blood — an often invisible emergency that the rest of the world doesn’t see behind closed hospital doors. Now, that urgency has only heightened.”

While the average blood transmission uses approximately 3 units of blood, the Red Cross notes that a single car accident victim can require up to 100 units of blood during treatment and recovery. Additionally, blood donations are used for patients with chronic conditions, including cancer care.

More donors have become eligible as the US implements new individual assessment-based blood donation guidelines. The Red Cross is urging all eligible donors to consider donating. Additionally, donors with type O blood, the universal donors, are precious amid this shortage.