ATLANTA — The American Red Cross has declared a national blood shortage emergency after the nation’s blood supply fell nearly 25% last month.
The Red Cross says the need for blood typically increases between Memorial Day and Labor Day, while summer travel and the loss of school blood drives contribute to fewer donations.
“We call it critical gap, and so basically that means that our patient needs and the amount of donors that are coming in is not matching, so we have this big gap that is happening,” Red Cross spokesperson Sofia Benedetti said.
The shortage comes during the summer trauma season, when hospitals typically need more blood. The Red Cross says distributions are running nearly 3,500 units above normal each week.
Benedetti said every donation can make a difference.
“Each bag goes to three different people, so if you just think about it, one bag is one donation saving three lives, I mean that’s a huge impact,” Benedetti said.
The Red Cross is urging healthy people of all blood types to donate as soon as possible.
“We need everyone who is healthy to come in and donate as soon as they can to try and fill that gap no matter your blood type, and you also don’t have to know your blood type for you to donate,” Benedetti said.
The shortage is especially serious for O positive, B negative and AB plasma donors.
WSB Radio’s Graham Carroll contributed to this story.
