Donation Deficit
This week's latest visit from the Polar Vortex hasn't just frozen water pipes. The cold is cutting blood donations to a trickle.
The frigid weather has prompted a nationwide shortage, affecting hospitals, trauma centers and thousands of patients coast-to-coast who are scheduled for elective surgery in the near future.
Marianne Spampinato, communications manager for the Greater Allegheny Blood Services Region of the American Red Cross, said in the period from Jan. 1 through Monday, the winter weather has caused the cancellation of 450 blood drives in the 25 states affected by the weather.
“That's led to the elimination of 14,000 donations of blood or platelets,” said Spampinato. “That's a significant number.”
Spampinato said in the 100-county region that stretches though Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia and all the counties in Pennsylvania west of the Susquehanna River and south of Interstate 80 including Butler County, three dozen canceled blood drives have led to a 1,000-unit shortfall.
“And that's not counting drives at schools that were canceled because testing days were changed because of the weather,” said Spampinato. “There's a lot of indirect effects.”
Spampinato said, “Obviously we don't want people coming out in bad weather.”
But she added the reduction in donations means “we're distributing the blood as quickly as it's coming in. We'd like to have a bit of a reserve.”
In addition to the inclement weather, Spampinato said, “Something else that we've seen is the Centers for Disease Control has said flu has reached epidemic levels in some parts of the country and that could be affecting donor levels as well.”
The Central Blood Bank, with its 25 donor centers in Western Pennsylvania including ones in Butler and Cranberry Township, is asking donors to brave the current brutal wintry conditions and donate blood over the next two weeks.
This will allow the Pittsburgh-area blood services provider to replenish blood needed for area patients that could not be donated due to the ongoing arctic weather currently hitting the Western Pennsylvania region.
“We usually need to see 500 donors every day to supply 40 hospitals in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia,” said Caitlyn Doyle, a Central Blood Bank spokesman.
The icy weather conditions have affected the area serviced by the Central Blood Bank, prompting some of its donors to miss scheduled visits at its mobile blood drives and community donor centers.
Doyle said cancellations mean “we are down about 1,000 units from where we would like to be.”
“First and foremost, we want our donors to be safe in these winter conditions and to visit us when they feel safe traveling,” said Michele Tysarczyk, executive director of Central Blood Bank.
“But we need more blood donations to rebuild our community blood supply to appropriate levels to ensure high-quality patient care,” Tysarczyk said.
“Winter weather is expected to continue to negatively impact our blood donations,” Tysarczyk said. “Patient needs don't change with the weather. That's why we're asking our donors to overcome the conditions and make their way to donate at a donor center or mobile drive.”
Connie Downs of Butler Hospital said the hospital has a sufficient supply of blood and has not had to cancel any surgeries this week.
She noted the bad weather coincided with January being National Volunteer Blood Donor Month. “But there's always a need for donating blood,” Downs said.
To find the location of an American Red Cross blood drive:• Call 800-RED-CROSS and press option 2• Visit redcrossblood.org and follow the prompts.To find a location of or make an appointment at a Central Blood Bank donor center:• Visit centralbloodbank.org• Call 866-366-6771.
