Blood Bank of Delmarva announces critical lack of blood supply

DELMARVA – The Blood Bank of Delmarva is sounding the alarm on a blood emergency following a summer of low donor turnout as well as the increased need for blood as a result of summer activities.

Contributing to the shortage are the recent Labor Day holiday, back-to-school activities, and a 50% decrease in youth donors since 2019.

The region’s blood supply is well below the optimal 5-7 day supply, with a need for all blood types, and an increased need for type O negative and Positive.  Delmarva is not alone; blood shortages are endemic across the U.S., with all centers urgently calling for blood donations.  

Blood Bank of Delmarva Director of Communications Tony Prado tells 47ABC, that means they cannot rely on a national supply to help get them back to the levels they need.

“Everybody’s in the same boat, this is endemic across the United States, so it’s not like we can turn to another blood bank in another part of the country and ask for help. That’s when you import blood. So that is that is particularly scary,” he said.

He tells us the blood bank is focusing on getting more African American donors, a group they say is disproportionately affected by sickle cell anemia that can often require a full human body’s worth of blood from a matching donor.

Prado tell us they hope to ramp up events at schools, universities and other locations where he can turn around the lack of new donor supply.