American Red Cross faces ‘emergency blood shortage’ as supply falls 25%

High heat and ongoing summer travel plans have led to the American Red Cross facing a shortage of an already diminished blood supply.

Blood drives will be hosted across Idaho throughout the month of August to ensure that donors have an opportunity to give blood and help prevent the shortage from seriously impacting the ability of hospitals and medical centers to administer life-saving procedures.

The Treasure Valley is not alone in feeling the impacts of high heat this summer. High summer temperatures have impacted nearly “100 blood drives in July” nationwide, resulting in a “shortfall” of more than 19,000 blood donations, the American Red Cross said in a press release.

The diminished number of blood drives has been compounded by people being less available in the summertime due to travel plans. Though it’s not unusual for the Red Cross to see a blood shortage during the summer months, the record temperatures across the country have led to fewer donors than originally anticipated, Matt Ochsner, regional communications director for the American Red Cross, said.

Blood donations also have shelf-life considerations, which have led to hospitals receiving blood products from the Red Cross faster than they are being donated, the release said. The inventory of type O blood, which can be received by all blood types, is of particular concern.

“Type O is especially important for victims of accidents and other trauma who are receiving emergency treatment,” Eric Gehrie, executive physician director for the Red Cross, said in the release. “Now is the time for donors of all blood types to give and ensure hospital shelves can be restocked before any impact to patient care.”

IMPACT ON IDAHO HOSPITALSThe Red Cross provides blood to about 30 hospitals and medical centers across the state of Idaho, Ochsner said. Though supply levels haven’t brought a “crisis situation” yet, the organization is looking to avoid ever getting to that point. As it stands, the Red Cross is having to limit the amount of O positive and O negative that is being sent out to hospitals to prevent a critical shortage.

St. Luke’s works directly with the Red Cross to “transfuse more than 13,000 blood products per year,” Christine Myron, St. Luke’s public relations manager, said in an emailed statement. According to Myron, St. Luke’s has maintained “sufficient” blood products for daily procedures in spite of the national shortage.

Myron noted that these shortages can give rise to diminished platelet supplies, which are given to patients to allow blood to clot properly and prevent severe bleeding. In the past, St. Luke’s has had to “prioritize the area of highest need until platelet supplies have recovered,” she said, adding, however, that these circumstances are rare and present “minimal impacts.”

Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center is the highest-level trauma center in the state, providing immediate care from general surgeons that are available 24 hours a day. The center is also one of the few in the region that provides whole blood as opposed to “component therapy” where specific parts of blood — red blood cells, blood platelets or blood plasma — are delivered to patients, Caleb Mentzer, Saint Alphonsus trauma physician, said.

The branch of medicine with the highest need for blood products is oncology, dedicated to the treatment of cancers, followed closely behind by trauma treatment. Mentzer said that the “emergent” field is the “second-largest consumer of blood products nationally.” For Saint Alphonsus’s trauma center there is a daily need for whole blood to be readily accessible.

“We see the most severely injured people that there are daily,” Mentzer said. “24/7, 365 — that’s what our specialty is … it’s pretty much every day we’re transfusing somebody.”

The amount of blood product needed for a particular trauma patient is highly variable. As a general example, however, a victim of a car crash who is hypotensive — exhibiting lower-than-normal blood pressure levels — could receive up to two units of whole blood immediately, Mentzer said.

An average man has about 4.5 liters of circulation blood volume. Their receipt of two units of blood would constitute the patient getting about a quarter of their circulation volume back, Mentzer said. A standard unit of blood is about 500 milliliters.

Most “poly-trauma patients,” who have received multiple injuries, get a couple of units of blood, on average, during their hospitalization. Blood can be delivered upon their initial admittance when they are in hemorrhagic shock, stemming from significant blood loss, or later in their stay following an operation, Mentzer said.

This type of patient would receive a higher volume of blood than a cancer patient who is being “electively transfused,” Mentzer said.

The amount of blood needed can increase significantly with more severe injuries. In Class 3 Hemorrhagic shock, the second-most severe classification constituting a total blood volume loss of 30-40percent, patients could receive two liters of blood for their “initial resuscitation,” Mentzer said.

Over the last 15 years, whole blood resuscitation has become increasingly common in trauma centers across the nation, Mentzer said.

This change was brought about with the onset of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, which brought an increased need for whole blood and blood-based resuscitation, Mentzer said. The practice has since become increasingly common outside of the military.

This change in strategy, while bringing “better outcomes,” comes with a higher demand for blood products than had existed previously. At its core, a hospital’s need for blood donors comes down to a need for a responsive community, Metnzer said.

“It’s just a matter of the community showing up,” Mentzer said. “Showing up for each other, and donating for the things that we really need to keep people alive.”

Though this summer is the focus, it wasn’t the first blood donor shortage of 2024. A similar emergency shortage was declared in January of this year , with the Red Cross reporting the “lowest number of people giving blood in the last 20 years.” In that time, total blood donations to the Red Cross have fallen by 40percent. This diminished blood product baseline has made these flare-up shortages even more impactful, a press release on the prior shortage said.

According to Ochsner, a number of factors have contributed to a decline in overall blood donations. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the increase in the number of people working remotely has made blood drives less convenient for working individuals. This shift has coincided with a significant number of retirements among the Baby Boomer generation, further driving down workplace blood donations.

The Red Cross previously reported that changes to the “minimum hemoglobin thresholds” for donation has also lessened the number of people who are eligible for donation, particularly those 18 or younger who generally have lower levels of hemoglobin. In Idaho, individuals 17 or older are eligible to donate blood . Idahoans who are 16 can donate with the informed consent of a parent or guardian.

Ochsner said that the Red Cross is hoping to see an increase in the number of first-time blood donors in particular.

“Only about 3percent of the population donates blood, but about 25percent of the population will need blood at some point in their lives,” Ochsner said. “That’s why we’re really encouraging first-time donors to raise their hand, roll up their sleeve and come out and help save lives.”