Officials issue warning of ‘perfect storm’ as nation’s blood supply gets dangerously low… and impending winter weather could prove deadly
America is facing a ‘severe’ blood shortage amid warnings that the looming winter storm could slash supplies even further.
The American Red Cross declared the urgent shortage nationwide Tuesday, warning its blood supplies had fallen 35 percent within the past month.
The nonprofit, America’s largest blood supplier, urged people to donate blood to ensure that lifesaving medical treatments and procedures could proceed without delay.
Blood donations tend to fall in winter because cold weather keeps people home, but this year stocks have tumbled further amid frozen weather and a severe flu season, the worst to hit the US in at least 25 years.
This week into Monday, about half of the country, 160 million Americans, will be under severe weather warnings for an incoming ‘ice storm’ set to drop up to 16 inches of snow and send temperatures to nearly 30 degrees below zero.
This is expected to further hit blood supplies because fewer people will be able to donate while demand remains the same or even grows if icy weather causes medical complications that require blood. Blood supplies often do not last for longer than five days.
Dr Courtney Lawrence, the Red Cross’s medical director, said: ‘This time of year is always challenging for blood collection, but right now, the perfect storm of a long holiday season, record flu activity and winter weather are all impeding donation efforts.
‘Every person’s blood can help save lives, plus you help ease the tremendous burden on our doctors and nurses, allowing them to focus on caring for patients.’
The Red Cross is the country’s largest blood supplier. It is calling for more donations amid a drop in blood supplies (file photo)
The Red Cross warned that cold weather had already disrupted 400 blood drives across the US last month alone.
It added that the shortage was especially serious for blood types O, A negative and B negative, which are among the rarest blood types in the US.
Patients who rely on blood transfusions include trauma victims, mothers in childbirth, cancer patients and those with sickle cell disease, an inherited blood disorder where red blood cells, which carry oxygen, do not function normally.
A person in the US needs a blood product about every two seconds and more than 40,000 units of blood, equivalent to 18,000 liters, are needed every day.
The Red Cross reports that 16 million blood products are transfused every year.
The organization also declared a blood shortage around this time in 2025, warning its supplies had reached a ‘life and death’ situation after plummeting 40 percent and hitting a 20-year low.
The American Red Cross accounts for about 40 percent of the nation’s blood supply and products.
Its latest tracking data shows that seven percent of its 59 community blood centers, which serve more than 3,500 hospitals and 150 million people, have less than a day’s worth of blood supply.
About 230 million people across 34 states are under a variety of watches, warnings and other alerts ahead of the historic storm
Meteorologists have predicted up to 16 inches of snow will fall over much of the country. The above is a picture of a snowstorm in New York City in January 2022
Twenty-two percent had a one-to-two-day blood supply, while only five percent had a supply of more than three days.
The organization warns online that only locations with a blood supply for three days or more have enough blood to meet normal operations.
Doctors warn that without enough blood hospitals are forced to limit blood use, which can lead to patients not receiving optimal care or life or death situations.
First-time mother Reihaneh Hajibeigi is among the many patients to have their lives saved by a blood transfusion.
She told the Red Cross how childbirth complications caused her to hemorrhage and lose nearly 40 percent of her blood. She recalled that, as she crashed, a team of doctors rushed to give her blood.
She said: ‘It was about 10 minutes from the time I started to feel faint until they had the blood in my system, and I was basically coming back to life.
‘I think about the people who made it possible for me to live.’
The American Red Cross is urging people to sign up to donate if they can. Patients are asked not to donate if they are suffering from a fever or a productive cough that brings up phlegm until symptoms subside.
January is National Blood Donor Awareness Month, a month-long campaign aiming to increase awareness of and participation in blood donation.
People can donate either whole blood or components of blood, including red blood cells, which are typically given to trauma patients or platelets, which help the blood clot and are used for cancer treatments and organ transplants.
Shown above is Reihaneh Hajibeigi, who said that a blood transfusion after her first pregnancy saved her life
Data shows that about two-thirds of Americans can donate blood, but only three percent do so annually.
Blood banks are consistently seeking more donations because most blood products, such as platelets, have a limited shelf life of just five days and hospitals constantly need new donations.
A single car accident victim can require as many as 100 units of blood, the Red Cross said, and blood cannot be manufactured – it must come from a donor.
All of the donations take between one to three hours and one volunteer donor can save multiple lives.
To donate blood in most states, you have to be at least 17 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds and be in good general health.
Certain types of medications, chronic conditions and recent travel can all affect a person’s eligibility to donate.
In an effort to urge people to donate, the Red Cross has teamed up with the Super Bowl to offer donors the chance to win an all-expenses-paid trip for two to the event next month.
