Hospitals are starting to feel the crunch as a historic blood shortage continues across New England and the United States.
“It has been more difficult in the last month to receive O units and we have had to keep a closer eye on inventory and usage. Units have been in short supply this last month and have had limitations on ordering,” Matt Clayton, lab manager at Gifford Medical Center, said in an email.
Gifford gets its blood from the American Red Cross, which beginning this week, will distribute blood using an allocation system due to its limited supplies.
“The (Red Cross) looked back at our historical ordering and is allocating us units based on our usage,” Clayton wrote. “There is the possibility that if there is a medical emergency requiring many units of blood that we might not be able to resupply as easily as we would have previously.”
So far, there has not been an impact on patients and Clayton thinks adjustments can be made to keep it that way.
“I believe that the relationship between the (American Red Cross) and the Vermont hospitals will allow for the movement of blood as needed and our patients will remain unaffected,” Clayton wrote.
Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Care Center has also been informed that, as of Thursday, they’ll be placed on a “daily threshold” for type O blood, said Lara Moody, laboratory manager, at the Windsor-based health center.
“I don’t expect to have an issue at MAH because our transfusion levels are historically low and most are planned,” Moody wrote in an email. “There is an option for requesting units over the daily threshold in case that becomes a need.”
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, blood has been in short supply. Fewer groups are holding blood drives and fewer people are donating. In a typical year, there are two slow periods: Between Memorial and Labor days, and then the winter holidays.
“The pickup that the Red Cross normally would see at Labor Day never happened and now we’re heading into a historically difficult time,” said Mary Brant, regional communications manager for the Northern New England Region of the American Red Cross. “We’re not keeping pace with the demand of hospitals. We’re having to deal with what comes in. We need to allocate the blood as it comes in.”
The Red Cross last week warned that patients who rely on blood transfusions may, “potentially,” not be able to receive them and their care could be delayed if more donors don’t come forward.
There is less than a half-day’s supply of type O available, which was down from a day’s supply that the Red Cross reported in late September. Ideally, the nonprofit organization would have a five-day supply on hand. Like other employers, the Red Cross has faced staffing challenges.
“It is historical,” Brant said. “People are not donating right now in the numbers that they need to.”
People who have had COVID-19 can still donate: They just must be 14 days symptom free before doing so, Brant said.
The Red Cross was on hand Monday at St. Mary’s Mission Church in Canaan Village, for a blood drive run by the Canaan Lions Club.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center receives blood from three suppliers including the Red Cross in addition to running its own blood bank, said Dr. Jenna Khan, a transfusion medicine attending physician. In June, when critical shortages first started being reported, the Blood Donor Program upped its donor recruitment efforts.
“We had to really get as many people in our doors as we could because we were not getting everything we were ordering from various blood banks,” said Amber Grantham, a blood donor relations specialist at DHMC.
They started by asking people who work at DHMC to donate to help them build up their supply. Community members can also donate and more information can be found at dartmouth-hitchcock.org/blood-donor-program. Blood donated at DHMC helps patients in New Hampshire and the Upper Valley.
Over the summer, two additional employees started working at the Blood Donor Program to help meet the hospital’s blood needs, Khan said. Their goal is to collect 20 units of blood a day, meaning 20 separate people need to donate. Currently, they’re collecting 10 to 15. Patient care has not been impacted at DHMC, said Khan.
“The biggest thing we’re worried about is our red cell collection,” Khan said, which is used during trauma cases and for blood transfusions. Khan said she has spoken to long-time employees who have told her they have never seen a shortage this bad before. “It really is unprecedented.”
D-H relies on bigger collection centers including the Red Cross to help replenish its blood supply. Currently, D-H has not had any issues restocking blood, Khan said. But since the supply is so tight, that means there are worries over what happens if a trauma case comes in.
“We have certain amounts that we need to keep in our blood bank and we try to stay over those minimum amounts,” Grantham said. “If we have a multi-car accident and there are multiple victims, we could go through 150 or 200 units of blood in just that one event.”
Supply concerns are expected to continue at least until spring. While it can seem overwhelming, this is an issue the community can help improve. Brant encourages people to sign up to donate blood not just now, but every two months as the need will not be going away anytime soon.
“If you are a donor now look around at your friends and your family members and invite them to come with you,” Brant said. “It’s always easier to do something when you’re doing it with a friend.”
(Visit redcrossblood.org
or call 1-800-733-2767
to make an appointment)
Dec. 16: N.H. Audubon McLane Center, 84 Silk Farm Road, Concord, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Dec. 17: Concord Red Cross Office, 2 Maitlaid St., Concord, Noon to 5 p.m.
Dec. 22: St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 354 Main St., Hopkinton, 1:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Dec. 23: IBEW Local 490, 48 Airport Road, Concord, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Dec. 28: Steeplegate Mall, 270 Loudon Road, Concord, 9 a.m. to noon
