The American Red Cross has declared an emergency blood shortage, saying patients are at risk of not getting lifesaving transfusions.
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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’d give mine but apparently I was British during the mad cow era so they refuse it.
I’m not sure if that restriction is still in place. At least in my situation, I was in Europe during the 80s for a few years on a naval base and was restricted from donating blood for the longest time. Apparently at some point that ban was lifted by the FDA and your Mad Cow blood is good enough to donate now:
https://www.va.gov/pittsburgh-health-care/stories/many-veterans-who-served-in-europe-can-now-give-blood-fda-lifts-ban/
Good to know! I was born there and lived there for 25 years, but I’m naturalized here now. I’ll check back in and see if I qualify now, that’d be cool because I have an uncommon blood type.