Red Cross Turns to Midwest to Fix Blood Shortage

Hurricane Irene caused quite a bit of damage through the Caribbean and East Coast when it hit in August this year.
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Red Cross Turns to Midwest to Fix Blood Shortage
10/2/2011
Updated:
10/1/2015

<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/Blood_2001091210013.jpg" alt="A woman gives blood at the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C. in this file photo. (Manny Ceneta/AFP)" title="A woman gives blood at the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C. in this file photo. (Manny Ceneta/AFP)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1796991"/></a>
A woman gives blood at the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C. in this file photo. (Manny Ceneta/AFP)

Hurricane Irene caused quite a bit of damage through the Caribbean and East Coast when it hit in August this year. But, few might expect large scale collateral damage in the realm of blood supplies.

In fact, when Hurricane Irene hit, more than 60 blood drives were forced to cancel. Approximately 2,100 donations were not given as a result, which left many trauma patients in desperate need of blood.

According to the American Red Cross, the blood supply was already quite low, which turned a regular shortage into a critical supply loss.

Approximately every two seconds someone in the United States needs blood, and more than 238,000 blood donations are needed in the United States every day.

“The cancellation of 60 drives resulted in a shortfall of more than 2,100 donations, and that number may rise due to damage in many areas,” said Luther Harmon, American Red Cross coordinator of the Gottlieb Memorial Hospital blood drive.

Fortunately, staff at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital of Melrose Park, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), has been donating blood to help offset the after effects of Hurricane Irene. Doctors, nurses, and even building engineers and housekeepers pitched in during a recent hospital drive on Sept. 27, 2011, to provide the intensely needed blood.

“Humans are the only source of blood; there is no synthetic substitute. Medical staff know firsthand the importance of blood in saving lives and at Gottlieb we are the first to roll up our sleeves to continue the care and give our own blood to help others,” said Jean Wojtanek, laboratory manger at Gottlieb, part of the Loyola University Health System.

Human blood supply in the United States is critical to medical treatment. One donation can save up to three lives. However, a single trauma victim may require up to 100 pints of blood.

The American Red Cross is always on the lookout for donations in local areas. The ratio of patients-to-donors is still pretty grim: 25 percent of us will need a blood transfusion sometime in our lives but only 5 percent of eligible donors give blood.