The National American Red Cross is asking for blood and platelet donors to roll up their sleeves after several factors led to a 25% drop in donations last month.
“A 30,000 donation shortage and that was after we had a 50,000 donation shortage earlier in the summer,” said Jonathan McNamara, Communications Director for the Red Cross of Virginia. He added statewide donations dropped 20% during the same time period. “We saw multiple weather events across the country, which led to hundreds of blood drives being canceled in those communities. We had record heat in parts of the country, which led to less signups — on top of vacations and colleges and high schools being out of session, which is a tremendous source of blood to the American Red Cross.”
McNamara spoke to CBS 6 from the Henrico facility, where the storage fridge where blood bags were kept before delivery were more empty than full.
“The Red Cross always tries to have a five-day supply of those key blood types on hand, to make sure that patients who come in — trauma situations, patients who are dealing with cancer treatment — have the blood that they need on the shelves. When we don’t, that can lead to situations where doctors and nurses have to make challenging healthcare decisions.”
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