The Pennsylvania-New Jersey region has less than a one-day supply of blood on hand to service hospitals.
By: Lauren Burgoon
"Help can’t wait" for the Penn-Jersey Region of the American Red Cross, which is facing an ultra-low blood supply because of a declining number of donors.
The region has less than a one-day supply of blood on hand to service hospitals, spokeswoman Kristy Kane said last week.
The blood on hand falls far below the Red Cross’ preferred absolute minimum of a five-day blood supply. A day’s supply of blood is considered 1,200 pints. One pint of blood is drawn from each donor and the region is not getting the minimum 1,200 donors a day to keep the blood supply at an ideal level.
"It’s very dire in New Jersey and Pennsylvania," Ms. Kane said.
The regional office sent out a national appeal last week after announcing that it was unable to supply enough blood to area hospitals. The Red Cross expects blood donations to languish during the summer months when potential donors are on vacation or generally have a more relaxed attitude, Ms. Kane said. But the situation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania has gone beyond the normal summer slowdown.
New Jersey typically has a lower donation level compared to the rest of the country, according to Ms. Kane. She said that 60 percent of the population is eligible to donate blood, but only 2 percent does, compared to 5 percent nationwide.
"Usually we have to import blood from other regions," Ms. Kane said. "People in the Midwest are more altruistic and give more often. They give half of the nation’s supply of blood and we have to lean on them for weekly shipments."
But the summer slowdown also has affected the Midwestern states and has created an emergency situation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
"What many people don’t realize is that the blood used in an emergency need to be on the shelves before the emergency occurs," said chief operating officer of the Penn-Jersey Region Brigid O’Neill-LaGier in a statement.
The Red Cross does not know what specifically could be causing this summer’s shortage or New Jersey residents’ general apathy toward blood donation, Ms. Kane said.
"If we did, we could fix it and we wouldn’t have this problem," Ms. Kane said.
She added that the need never goes away for blood donations.
"A lot of people came out in droves to donate blood after 9-11. But I like to say that the real heroes were the people who donated on 9-9 because that’s how long it takes to process blood and get it to hospitals," Ms. Kane said.
It would not take a large-scale terrorist attack to expend the region’s blood supply. Even a surge in accidents statewide, as often happens during the summer months, could present a major blood supply problem, Ms. Kane said. The region has 36 regular blood donation centers to service 125 hospitals in New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania. At any one of those hospitals a trauma victim could use 4 to 40 pints of blood, Ms. Kane said.
So far regional hospitals have kept their stock of blood full despite the Red Cross shortage. Hospitals in the Capital Health System, which includes a trauma center where many area emergency-status patients and accident victims are sent, has maintained a full blood supply, spokesman Don MacNeill reported Monday.
The situation is similar at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch. Spokeswoman Kathy Horan said that the hospital has an adequate supply of blood on hand but is working with the Red Cross to host donation drives for more. Monmouth Medical Center also receives blood from Central Jersey Blood Bank and so has an alternate plan if the Red Cross situation continues to decline, Ms. Horan said.
The Red Cross is beginning a hard push for donors this week to make sure that regional hospitals do not run short on blood. As an incentive to donate, all blood donors until Sept. 12 will be eligible to win a free one-year supply of gas.
There are several scheduled blood drives in the coming weeks. The Millstone Fire Company will host a drive at the Stagecoach Road station on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. A drive is scheduled for July 28 in the dining room of the Nassau Club on Mercer Street in Princeton from 12:45 to 6:15 p.m. There will be another drive at the New Egypt High School cafeteria on Evergreen Road on Aug. 17 from 2 to 7:30 p.m.
People who are at least 17 years old and weigh more than 110 pounds are eligible to donate blood. Donors can give blood every 56 days.
For more information on blood donation or to schedule an appointment call 1-800-GIVE LIFE or go to www.pleasegiveblood.org.