With a national blood supply shortage, here’s how Athens, UGA are helping the Red Cross

Amid a national shortage, Athens area blood banks are seeking to re-supply an annual shortage caused by the University of Georgia and local summer breaks. 

The American Red Cross put out a notice earlier this month that the “national blood supply has fallen to critically low levels.” Athens hospitals typically have blood supply shortages during winter and summer breaks, when many people are traveling and students are largely not in Athens.

Athens’ blood donation supply is heavily influenced by the semesters’ schedules, said Patti Duckworth, executive director of the Northeast Georgia chapter of the American Red Cross.

“Athenians plan their life around the university’s school and activity schedule,” Duckworth said. “That contributes to the decline in blood donations in Athens.”

Duckworth noted that there’s an ongoing need for blood donations because donated blood can only be used for up to 21 days, then the calendar starts over.

For perspective, a serious car accident may need up to 100 pints of blood, she said. That means 100 people would need to donate blood to meet that demand.

During the fall and spring semesters, Duckworth partners with the University of Georgia’s Red Cross Club, a student-led organization that hosts blood drives either at the Tate Center or Memorial Hall, one to two times a month. She said that the Red Cross also sponsors blood drives with over 15 organizations at UGA such as fraternities and sororities, and many takes place at UGA dorms and the UGA School of Law, for example.

“The Red Cross is working with hospitals around the clock to meet the needs of patients,” Duckworth said. “So they can’t do it alone.”

As part of the ongoing effort to collect blood donations, UGA and the University of Florida will compete for the most donations at the Blood Battle, held Oct. 18-19 at the Tate Center. Athens Academy will hold a blood drive on Sept. 28. Also, the Red Cross accepts blood donations at the Athens Blood Donation Center at 3525 Atlanta Highway on various days and times.

Donations by African Americans needed

Locally, the Red Cross partners with Clarke Central High School, Zeta Beta Beta Chapter of Omega Psi Phi, Zeta Beta Chapter of Omega Psi Phi, New Grove Baptist Church and Cedar Shoals High School to boost blood donations from African Americans to increase the chances for those living with sickle cell disease to receive regular blood transfusions, Duckworth said.

Particularly in September, the Red Cross seeks African American blood donors as part of the sickle cell awareness campaign.

Because most individuals who are Black have unique structures on their red blood cells that are not often found in other donor populations, they are almost three times more likely to be a match for patients with sickle cell disease than donors who are not Black or African American, according to the Red Cross.

Sickle cell disease is the most common genetic blood disorder in the United States, and regular blood transfusions are critical to manage extreme pain and life-threatening complications, Duckworth said. In the United States, it is estimated that over 100,000 people have sickle cell disease and may require frequent blood transfusions throughout their lifetime — as many as 100 units of blood per patient each year. 

African American donors are especially helpful as blood donors to the general population as well because they have a higher rate of having type negative O blood compared to the white population, according to the Red Cross.

“Blood donors who are Black play a vital role in helping meet the needs not only those with sickle cell disease but individuals who experience complicated childbirths, people fighting cancer, and accident victims being raced to emergency rooms,” according to the Red Cross.

To increase blood donations by African Americans, the Red Cross has partnered with national organizations to spread awareness and sponsor blood drives. For example, the Red Cross partners with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Black Radio Hall of Fame and 100 Black Men of America, Inc., to name a few.

“One in seven people who go to the hospital need blood,” Duckworth said. “When you look around a roomful of people, there’s a pretty good percentage that might have to have a blood transfusion in their life.”

National blood and platelet supply shortages

The American Red Cross announced last week that they have a 25% shortage of blood and platelets supply since early August. It cited natural disasters, such as Hurricane Idalia, climate change, summer travel and back-to-back school activities as the root causes of its shortage since many blood donation appointments have been recently cancelled in those affected areas.

Those cancellations in the Southeast “compounded a shortfall of about 30,000 donations in August” alone, according to a press release.

“Right now, blood product distributions to hospitals are outpacing the number of blood donations,” according to a news release. “Approximately 2,500 hospitals and transfusion centers across the country rely on the Red Cross to collect 12,500 blood donations each day to meet the needs of their patients.”

The United States is in an urgent need for blood donations of all blood types, Duckworth said. That means there’s a short supply of blood on hand ready to use at hospitals. Platelets and blood type O negative are in an emergency need, meaning that a hospital has run out of supply for its patients. Blood type O negative is compatible with every blood type, so hospitals need enough of that type of blood on hand for emergencies where there’s no time to check a patient’s blood type.

To keep blood donors engaged with their donation, the Red Cross has an app that notifies a donor when their blood is transfused; it will tell them know which hospital it went to, Duckworth said.

“That’s a real cool thing to be able to see,” she said. “You can see where you made a difference. You can feel good about your donation.”