Spurt in Donors Fails to Ease U.S. Blood Shortage
More than 77,000 people have donated blood to the American Red Cross in the last four days, but the nation is still experiencing a critical blood shortage, the agency said Wednesday.
“We are not out of the woods yet by any means,” Red Cross President Elizabeth Hanford Dole said. “We urgently need more blood.”
Blood centers in eight more cities issued emergency appeals for blood Wednesday.
The Red Cross and blood banks last Friday declared the nation’s blood shortage the worst in Red Cross history. The agency’s usual three-day supply of blood had dropped to a one-day supply, and several hospitals told the American Assn. of Blood Banks that they were postponing elective surgeries.
Officials blamed snowstorms in the East, the virulent Beijing flu that has sickened people in at least 17 states, and the holiday season for the shortage.
In response, 30,000 people donated blood to the Red Cross over the weekend, 23,000 gave on Monday and another 24,567 donated on Tuesday, officials said.
Despite the new donations, the agency’s inventory was still just 39,734 units of blood, far below the normal level of 67,000.
Blood centers in eight more cities, which also serve their surrounding areas, are appealing for emergency donations: Knoxville, Tenn.; Kansas City; Portland, Ore.; Roanoke and Norfolk, Va.; Savannah, Ga.; Toledo, Ohio; and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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