American Red Cross at critical low levels for blood supplies

The American Red Cross is currently experiencing a critically low blood supply. This is the first time the organization has announced an official blood crisis and its levels sit at enough supply for less than a day's need for individuals.

According to the Red Cross website, "The American Red Cross is facing a national blood crisis -- its worst shortage in over a decade, posing a concerning risk to patient care. Amid this crisis, doctors have been forced to make difficult decisions about who receives blood transfusions and who will need to wait until more products become available."

The recent surge of the omicron variant of COVID-19 is not the only need for the blood donations. Cancer patients, medical emergencies and elective surgeries require blood supplies to be on hand.

According to Jennifer Sokolowski, executive director of the Red Cross Southeast Missouri and Northeast Arkansas chapters, the pandemic has had a significant impact on the organization's ability to receive donations.

"The blood shortage really came forthright during the beginning of COVID. It was due to the lack of being able to host blood drives because there were so many restrictions," Sokolowski said. "And now, we've never been able to get ahead of it since then."

The blood processing shelves at the American Red Cross are empty Tuesday because of the shortage of supplies.Joe Zydlo ~ American Red Cross volunteer

The Red Cross is encouraging individuals to donate as often as they can, every 56 days, and all blood types are currently needed. The organization's ideal level of supply is five day's worth, however Sharon Watson, regional communications director for American Red Cross of Missouri and Arkansas, believes the supply will not be reached for several weeks.

"While we have seen improvements in the number of people who have signed up and have come out to donate in the past week, we are expecting the need to be there for quite some time," Watson said. "We've seen such a shortage for several weeks now that we have a ways to catch up, and so, it'll likely be several more weeks before we are at a point when we're not at this level of a shortage."

The American Red Cross has a color chart showing the current level of blood supplies, and a new color, purple, was added because of the extreme shortage. As soon as a donation is collected by the organization, it is sent out to hospital and medical facilities after going through a testing process.

The American Red Cross website explains once a sample is collected and sent to a testing facility "a dozen tests are performed, to establish blood type and test for infectious diseases -- test results are transferred electronically to the processing center within 24 hours." After the sample is determined as suitable for transfusion, "Red cells are stored in refrigerators at six degrees Fahrenheit for up to 42 days, platelets are stored at room temperature in agitators for up to five days and plasma and cryo are frozen and stored in freezers for up to one year. Blood is available to be shipped to hospitals 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."

Since the organization distributed a news release Jan. 11, it has seen an uptick in appointments and donations at blood drives, however supplies still remain low.

A volunteer gives blood at a recent American Red Cross blood drive.American Red Cross photo

"We're still unable to increase our hospital distributions," Sokolowski said. "More weeks of donor presentations are needed, which means hospitals will still be struggling and some patients will likely continue to have to wait for blood products. We are adjusting our allocations for distributions each week as inventory allows."

The American Red Cross is also trying to increase the amount of blood drives it hosts, seeking locations to host the drives at and partnering with organizations such as the National Hockey League to increase traffic flow.

"In some of our communities that have large sporting teams, like the St. Louis Blues, we coordinate with them on messaging to push out during their games," Watson said. "So, we've been doing some things like that, where it's working with partners to try to help us get the message out as well."

Through Monday, individuals who donate blood can receive a dozen original glazed donuts from Krispy Kreme. For more information on upcoming blood drives and the current blood crisis, visit The American Red Cross website, www.redcross.org.