Blood donations down nationwide; Utah networks plead for donors

Blood donations are typically pretty sparse during the summer; many of the usual donors are out playing and doing the kind of fun recreational activities that may actually increase need for blood donations.

But a strange combination of events that includes the CrowdStrike cybersecurity outage that impacted both flights and hospital operations in some states, the recent hacking of the major blood center OneBlood, combined with the typical summer vacations at a time when blood need tends to rise, have created concern about whether blood banks have enough blood on hand to deal with emergencies.

It is, in the words of Deb Jordan, who does community relations for ARUP Blood Services, “even more dire than what could have been predicted at the beginning of summer.”

Even the rise of remote work has contributed to what Jordan called in a news release “an all-time dip in donations.” People aren’t going into their workplace as much and that is another source of blood drives, behind school blood drives, which also don’t happen in summer months.

Across the nation, more blood donors are needed. And Utah’s no exception.

“Donors are busy on vacation, traveling, enjoying outdoor activities and donating blood or platelets has dropped off the priority list for summer,” said Jordan, who noted that ARUP relies heavily on high school blood drives.

“Advances in medical care over the years have also increased the need for blood for treatment for many diseases,” Dr. Glenn E. Ramsey, medical director of the Northwestern Medicine Blood Bank at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and professor of pathology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said in the health system’s HealthBeat blog . “Survival rates for many cancers and blood diseases are improving, but extended transfusions are often needed during their therapy.”

‘Trauma Season’ and not enough blood or platelets

Red Cross of Utah calls the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day “Trauma Season” because of an increase in traumatic injuries, which often require blood transfusions. Keith Paul, the organization’s regional communication manager, said about a quarter of trauma patients need blood — and a small share of them need a lot of blood.

In late July, Paul sent a news release to local media asking for help to get donors to boost the blood and platelet supply. Type O blood donors are especially needed so that hospitals have a steady, reliable blood supply to meet the need. That’s the most commonly transfused blood type, he said.

In Utah, ARUP supplies blood to the Huntsman Cancer Hospital and University of Utah hospitals and clinics. Red Cross supplies roughly 45 area hospitals with blood.

The Red Cross nationally supplies about 40% of all collected blood, and Paul said that to meet the needs of 2,500 hospitals and transfusion centers nationwide, it needs to receive about 12,500 blood and 3,000 platelet donations every day.

All blood types help, but especially Type O. Type O negative is the universal donor and that blood can be given in emergency situations where there’s no time to type a patient’s blood. Type O positive can be given to any positive blood type recipient.

People with AB positive blood are the universal donors for platelets, which are given to control severe bleeding, among other indications.

To donate to ARUP, call 801-584-5272 or schedule online at www.utahblood.org .

Donors can schedule an appointment with the Red Cross on the Red Cross Blood Donor App , by visiting redcrossblood.org or by calling 1-800-733-2767. The Red Cross has been running promotions to entice blood donors during this down period.