DLNews Health:

RIVERSIDE COUNTY – Blood banks nationwide are scrambling to find donors amid a supply deficit that complicates efforts to treat cancer patients and others needing transfusions. Doctors at Riverside University Medical Center joined county supervisors in calling Tuesday for residents to donate, saying the lack of blood could cost lives.

The summer months typically put an enormous strain on blood bank supplies as people take vacations and skip donations, Van Gonka said. The coronavirus scare has also discouraged donors, and hospitals are using up their collections to treat patients with high rates of trauma, organ transplants, and other procedures requiring large amounts of blood.

A blood shortage has plagued the nation for several years, worsening the problem. The national need is due to a combination of factors, including increased transplants and surgeries, more patients undergoing cancer treatments that use large amounts of blood, and aging blood donors retiring or slowing down their donations. In addition, the supply chain has been disrupted by the pandemic, which shut down most blood collection centers and caused donors to lose their habit of going regularly.

Blood supplies have rebounded since the pandemic ended, but not pre-pandemic levels. And the need is especially acute in some areas, particularly for Type O blood, which is used for all types of patients and can be stored longer than other blood types. Minh-Ha Tran, a professor of pathology at the University of California Irvine, said that even though hospital systems have become more efficient at collecting and storing blood and the overall blood demand has decreased, the community needs to catch up.

One in four Americans eligible to donate blood has not done so, and many of those who haven’t donated for a while say they are worried about the pandemic and do not know their local blood bank. Four in five nonactive donors do not consider blood donation a social responsibility, and two out of three don’t know someone who has ever needed a transfusion.

Maintaining a steady supply of blood requires a complex, interconnected system. Blood is collected at blood drives, hospitals, and donation centers and is shipped to regional blood banks for testing, processing, labeling, and storage. From there, the blood is transferred to hospitals and other providers that need it for patients with accidents, cancer treatment, and sickle cell disease, among other conditions.

The life-saving blood we need can only come from volunteers like you. To donate, please call your local blood center or visit its website. Individuals who are 17 years old (with parental consent where allowed by law) and weigh at least 110 pounds can donate. All donors must bring a donor card, driver’s license, other state ID, and other forms of identification. They must also be in good health and free of certain diseases. A typical blood donation takes about an hour.

Riverside Community Red Cross Blood Drive

Get Directions

6235 River Crest Drive, Suite A

Riverside, CA 92507

Phone: 1-800-RED CROSS

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LifeStream’s donor appointment line is 800-879-4484.

Appointments can also be made online via http://www.LStream.org.