‘Scary’ blood crisis hits U.S., delaying surgeries

Beth Warren

Nashville Tennessean

USA TODAY NETWORK

A Nashville surgeon is pleading with residents to donate amid a 'scary' blood shortfall hitting the nation, causing the American Red Cross to declare a blood crisis for only the second time in its 145-year history.

Heart surgeon Dr. Brian Wilcox, the chief clinical officer of Ascension Saint Thomas’ 20 Middle Tennessee hospitals, said some elective surgeries must be postponed due to the critical shortage.

'It is scary,' Wilcox said. 'A lot of times you’ll see variation in supply across the country and American Red Cross units can share blood or blood products across their markets, but everybody’s hurting right now.'

The American Red Cross issued an alert saying: 'Blood donations have fallen to a four-year summer low, worsening the emergency shortage and threatening patient care.'

Some blood bank workers and physicians blame what’s known as the '100 Deadly Days of Summer,' when blood donations plummet and outdoor activities and travel lead to more injuries that require blood.

Wilcox said patients often need blood during surgeries or after car crashes and other emergencies, but many others need it, too. Mothers often need life-saving blood after giving birth. Children and adults who have sickle cell disease or other disorders rely on regular infusions.

Cancer patients often need blood platelets, which help blood clot, after chemotherapy. However, this product has only a five-day shelf life, necessitating continuous donations.

'There’s nowhere to go for help but in our own community,' Wilcox said. 'This is when we have to hold hands and take care of each other and our neighbors.'

The Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies, known as AABB, also sent out an alert, saying: 'The blood supply in the United States is significantly lower than it should be and is trending downward at a concerning pace. Blood centers throughout the country face the risk of not having blood available for every patient when it is needed.'

The AABB Interorganizational Task Force on Domestic Disasters and Acts of Terrorism teamed with blood banks to issue an urgent appeal July 24 for donors, cautioning that surgeries and treatments across the country may have to be postponed and physicians may have to 'make difficult decisions about patient care.'

Their plea was echoed by Blood Assurance, a Chattanooga-based nonprofit that supplies medical facilities in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky and North Carolina. Typically, they can receive blood or give it to other areas of the country during emergencies as a member of America’s Blood Centers, a national network of community-based centers that provides nearly 60% of the U.S. blood supply.

'We are feeling this shortage at the community level,' Blood Assurance spokeswoman Brooke Katz said.

The 54-year-old nonprofit is the main blood supplier to Middle Tennessee and Chattanooga and has operated with less than a two-day supply of several blood types for much of the summer.

The American Red Cross has declared a national blood crisis after summer donations fell to a four-year low.

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