South Georgia blood shortage trending at alarming rate

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) – Once again this summer, blood shortages are impacting the American Red Cross’ mission to give back to those in need.

Right now, the non-profit organization reports it’s short approximately 50,000 units of blood donations—a concerning trend that could continue to get worse.

A year and a half ago, the American Red Cross declared its first-ever blood crisis after a severe shortage of blood supply and while that isn’t the case right now, officials tell me that they’re seeing trends that could potentially lead them to that same circumstance.

“We are trending down. It is a significant shortage and we just hope that folks will help us stop that,” Adelaide Kirk, The Red Cross of South Georgia executive director, said.

Kirk added that the need for blood is greater than their supply. Summer is usually a very difficult time for the non-profit organization, but this year even fewer people are donating blood. Especially coming out of the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lack of donations has become a deterrent to some hospitals. Kirk tells me one in seven patients require a blood transfusion — a frequent procedure doctors do every day.

“The average person can give blood but only 3% of the eligible population in the entire United States actually gives blood. So there are a lot of folks out there that are eligible that just aren’t doing it,” Kirk said.

According to RedCrossBlood.org, approximately 29,000 units of red blood cells are needed daily in the United States. Kirk said while all blood types are needed, the greatest need is O-positive blood because it’s the universal blood donor.

“We need about to intake 13,000 units a day across the country to basically meet the need. Blood, because it can be broken down into component parts can save up to three lives. So when you go in and take an hour of your time to give a donation of whole blood, it can be used in multiple ways to save lives,” she said.

Just like the American Red Cross, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital is also seeing a decrease in blood donations but right now the hospital’s blood supply is sufficient for the 150 units of blood they need a day.

“We have a lot of different bleeding type patients with bleeding disorders. So there’s a lot of that in this area,” Leigh Sandefur, Phoebe Blood Bank supervisor, said.

At Phoebe’s Main campus alone, health officials use approximately 11,000 to 12,000 blood products a year—with blood transfusion being the most common procedure. Sandefur said given the American Red Cross’ current blood supply, they’re lucky to have standing orders of blood in their inventory along with an emergency plan to avoid a crisis.

“Here at Phoebe’s Main campus, we have a critical need plan. So, we project what our need is. We communicate to the physicians what we have,” she said.

On RedCrossBlood.org, you can type in your zip code and find upcoming blood drives in and around your area. Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital is also hosting a blood drive on April 17 from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. at Phoebe Healthworks.

“We hope the fact that the need is great and that people need blood to give them life is certainly enough to motivate folks to go out and make that appointment,” Kirk said.

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