Red Cross declares emergency blood shortage after national inventory falls by 25% in July
The Red Cross said more than 100 blood drives have been affected by record heat.
The American Red Cross said Monday that it is experiencing an emergency blood shortage, and extreme heat may be partly to blame.
In a press release, the organization said its national blood inventory fell by more than 25% since July 1.
Rolling heat waves and record temperatures have impacted more than 100 drives in the last month in every state where the Red Cross collects blood. This has led to fewer people donating and has contributed to a shortfall of more than 19,000 donations in July, based on projected hospital need, according to the Red Cross.
This is in addition to other factors that typically limit blood donations during the summer, such as travel and seasonal activities, the group said.
The Red Cross also suspects that August also will threaten replenishment of the available blood supply due to the start of peak Atlantic hurricane season, which often leads to flooding and power outages that can cancel blood drives and otherwise lead to low donor turnout.
The Red Cross said it supplies about 40% of the nation's blood donations.
Donors with Type O blood are the most needed right now, according to the Red Cross, for two reasons. Type O is the most common blood type, meaning that most people in need of blood will need type O blood.
Secondly, those with an O negative blood type are so-called "universal donors," meaning their donations can be used in transfusions for any patient with any blood type.
Because the supply of O blood is currently very low, the Red Cross said it had had to reduce distributions of that type to hospitals.
"Having type O blood products readilyavailable is vital to providing timely and lifesaving care to patients in need," Dr. Baia Lasky, division chief medical officer for the Red Cross, said in the press release. "In fact, for a patient suffering massive blood loss, like an individual in a car accident or a mom experiencing a severe postpartum hemorrhage, group O is the most commonly transfused blood type. For trauma patients, each minute of delay can increase the chance of death by 5%."
This is not the first time the American Red Cross has warned of the risk of a blood supply shortage. Earlier this year, the organization it was seeing the lowest number of people giving blood in 20 years, something it is still experiencing.
According to the Red Cross, only 3% of age-eligible people, or about 6.8 million Americans, donate blood every year.
In an attempt to increase donations, the Red Cross is offering anyone who donates blood by August 31 a $20 Amazon gift card by email.
"Blood cannot be manufactured or stockpiled and can only be made available through the kindness of volunteer donors. It's the blood on the shelves now that helps during an emergency," the Red Cross said in Monday's release.
