As the COVID-19 pandemic comes to a close, more Americans are seeking medical care — only to find roadblocks to long-awaited elective surgeries or unexpected traumatic injuries: a critical national shortage of blood.
In June, the blood supply dropped to “red” level, indicating dangerously low supply at blood centers nation-wide, according to the AABB Interorganizational Task Force on Domestic Disasters and Acts of Terrorism.
Donated blood products have always been in high demand in the United States. But now, doctors say, the crisis has reached a new, critical turning point, forcing some to triage medical care, reserving blood products only for the sickest patients.
According to the Red Cross, the supplier of 40 percent of the nation’s blood supply, nearly 7,000 units of platelets and 36,000 units of red blood cells are needed daily. On average, an American needs blood products every two seconds.
The COVID-19 pandemic and recent rise in violent crime has put additional pressure on an already strained blood supply. In comparison to 2019, the demand for blood has climbed by 10 percent in hospitals with trauma centers and by more than five times in other facilities that provide transfusions, according to the Red Cross.
Now that pandemic restrictions are easing, more patients are returning to the hospital and rescheduling surgeries and medical procedures that were postponed during the pandemic. Meanwhile, the prevalence of gunshot wounds, while slightly lower since the height of the pandemic, remains increased compared to pre-COVID numbers.
Due to shortages, doctors are being forced to reevaluate whether patients deserve blood products. Many hospitals may be forced to re-triage patients to ensure an adequate supply of blood products for patients in need.
If the shortage continues, elective surgeries may be canceled. Cancer patients requiring chemotherapy, and the blood transfusions that chemotherapy necessitates, may need to reschedule their lifesaving treatments.
Source-ABC
