“Without any one of those people, I don’t know if I would be here, I don’t know if my husband would have a wife, or if my beautiful little daughters would have a mom,” said Horseheads resident Kristina Harris.
Right now, the American Red Cross is facing a national blood shortage with the lowest levels of blood and platelets in more than a decade.
“It’s been caused by a variety of issues,” said Robert Packer Hospital Trauma Medical Director Dr. Steven Casos. “Essentially, it’s the discrepancies between supply and demand. The demand has remained throughout the pandemic. There are people that require blood. There are people that require blood for traumatic injuries, for illness, people that go to the operating room for emergency or elective procedures need blood as well.”
Dr. Casos said blood is used daily within hospitals, including patients in emergency rooms, the ICU, those receiving chemotherapy, organ transplants, and mothers giving birth.
Leave a Reply