Connecticut’s Blood Supply Reaches Emergency Level

 FARMINGTON –– The American Red Cross, Connecticut Blood Services Region, this week launched an emergency appeal for blood donors. Persons who have not given blood since May 14 are urged to make an appointment to donate by calling 800-GIVE LIFE (800-448-3543), or using the website www.bloodct.org to see a listing of community blood drives and to request an appointment.

 The blood supply in Connecticut has been in “critical condition” since mid-June. Low blood donor turnout during the Independence Day holiday week has continued to erode what little blood is currently available.

The following blood types are below the three-day inventory level considered safe by the American Red Cross: O-positive, O-negative, A-negative, and B-negative, yet because of the constant need for blood, all donors are needed, no matter their blood type.

 From July 1 through July 7, the Connecticut Blood Services Region of the Red Cross collected 2,006 units of blood but distributed 2,600 units of blood to hospitals, depleting Connecticut Region red cell inventories below adequate numbers, thereby forcing the region to cut routine hospital orders for red cells. The Connecticut Region needs to collect about 650 units of whole blood each day to meet the needs of hospital patients across the state.

Blood collections across the nation have declined since May, and throughout the July 4th holiday, nearly one-half of all Red Cross Blood Services regions were on appeal. In June the National American Red Cross partnered with America’s Blood Centers, the American Association of Blood Banks, the American Public Health Association, and the American Hospital Association to call for more blood donors nationwide, but blood supplies in the Connecticut area are still not as robust as they need to be.

A number of factors contribute to the current blood shortage in Connecticut, including severely hot weather, overall low donor show rates, and the fact that high schools, colleges and universities –– which account for about 15 percent of the Red Cross blood supply in nonsummer months –– are not currently in session. In addition, patients needing blood transfusions have already utilized the large amounts of blood collected in the days and weeks after September 11.

“What the public needs to understand is that blood is needed each and every day, not just in times of national crisis,” commented Gary Wandmacher, chief executive officer for the American Red Cross Connecticut Blood Services Region. “Becoming a regular blood donor is one vital way of helping patients everyday and helping our nation prepare for uncertainties.”

Most healthy people who are 17 years old and who weigh 110 pounds or more are eligible to give blood.

Upcoming blood drives include Thursday, July 11, at Danbury Hospital’s Strook Tower from 7:30 am to 5:15 pm; Saturday, July 13, at Roberto’s Restaurant, 505 Main Street, Route 25, Monroe; from 8 am to 12:45 pm, and Monday, July 22, from 11:45 am to 4:30 pm, at Amica Mutual Insurance Company, One Park Ridge Road, Bethel.