Red Cross down to less than a days’ supply of blood

DEDHAM, Masss. — Deep inside the American Red Cross building, Ed Roberts sees evidence of deep trouble. The Director of Manufacturing can peer through glass doors clear to the back of a large, walk-in refrigerator.

That tells him blood supplies are dangerously low.

“This is probably the lowest inventory I’ve seen in all of my time here,” said Roberts, who’s been with the Red Cross for more than 40 years. Ideally, he said, tray upon tray of whole blood packets would fill the refrigerator. As it is, only a few carts in front have any blood -- and lately, this would be considered a good day.

“I’m concerned,” Roberts said. “That if there are emergencies that we won’t be able to supply the products that hospitals need.”

How did things get so bad with the nation’s blood supply?

Well, it all started in March of 2020, said American Red Cross spokesperson Kelly Isenor, with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Overall, countrywide, we’ve seen about a ten percent dip in the number of donors coming out to drives,” Isenor said. “Some of that is just being hesitant or wanting to do their part, staying inside.”

But that end of the blood-donation business wasn’t the only thing affected by the pandemic. Many blood drives had to be canceled, too -- a situation that’s ongoing.

“Even if offices start to reopen for their employees, they may not be willing to have an outside company like the Red Cross come in and do a blood drive in a conference room,” Isenor said.

As for the especially critical situation the Red Cross is facing now -- let’s just say the season isn’t helping.

“We always see a little bit of a dip in supply right after the holidays because people are doing other things,” Isenor said. “They’re not necessarily thinking about appointments.”

That’s because sometimes they’re forced to think about snow.

“We’re gearing up for a big storm this weekend. We had a big storm a couple of weekends ago,” Isenor said. “At that point, we had to cancel blood drives. So it’s a real problem.

There just aren’t enough blood donors coming to drives, there aren’t enough products being collected and we’re in this state right now with hospital demand and with what we need to keep normal steady blood supply, we’re in serious crisis mode.”

In fact, Isenor said the Red Cross is down to less than a days’ worth of blood on the shelves.

She said one big concern with the weekend storm is that it could affect a vast part of the eastern United States -- forcing cancellation of blood drives in numerous states.

“When we already know the blood supply is at such a critically low level it’s terrifying,” Isenor said. “If there’s a chance that blood goes uncollected over the weekend that’s just going to make matters worse.”

Isenor said the Red Cross will try to keep donation sites open unless there’s a clear safety concern -- and she urges those who’ve signed up to donate and who are either canceled or can’t make it -- to reschedule.

As for those who have had Covid -- yes, you can still give blood.

“We just ask that you wait until 14 days after your symptoms end,” said Isenor. “So after your last symptom, wait two weeks, then make your appointment.”

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