COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Red Cross is asking for blood donations, warning of a potential shortage in the coming weeks due to a significant drop in the number of people who have given blood this summer.
Donations were down approximately 8 percent over the last 11 weeks, resulting in about 80,000 fewer donations than expected, says Rodney Wilson, communications manager for the Red Cross Central Ohio Blood Services Region.
Wilson says the number of donors continues to decline, which could lead to “an emergency situation in the coming weeks.”
There is also an urgent need for platelets, a clotting component of blood needed by cancer patients, burn victims and bone marrow recipients, Wilson said.
Summer can be a traditionally slow period for blood donations because regular donors take vacations and donations from college campuses drop by more than 80 percent during summer break.
The fact that the Independence Day holiday fell on a Friday cut down on the number of blood drives usually held during the month because people either took vacations either over the long weekend or for the entire week, Wilson said.
About 4,400 Red Cross blood drives are scheduled during an average week in the summer but only 3,450 were scheduled during the first week of July.
Wilson says the Red Cross needs donations of types O negative, B negative and A negative blood. Type O negative is the “universal blood type” and can be transfused to anyone who needs blood. Types A negative and B negative can be transfused to Rh positive or negative patients.
Platelets must be transfused within five days of donation, so it’s important to have a steady supply of those, Wilson said.