The Blood Bank of Delmarva declares a blood emergency amid declining donations.
The Blood Bank of Delmarva is issuing an urgent call for blood donors with local donations declining by nearly 20%.
The drop in donations puts the blood supply at risk at a vulnerable time as the holiday season is fast approaching.
"Historically, we usually see donations drop around the holiday season, but this year it's hitting us a little early and that decline of twenty percent or so, has created a deficit that triggered this most recent blood emergency," said Blood Bank of Delmarva communications specialist Tony Prado.
While the blood bank faces a severe shortage of all blood types, there’s an added call for Type O as that is crucial for emergencies and trauma care.
Prado says since the emergency was announced, there’s been some improvement, but not to the point where the blood bank needs to be.
"When we pulled the trigger on the blood emergency on Monday we were less than a day for critical blood types like O negative and B negative, and then O positive was hovering around 3 days,” said Prado. “Well, people have started to come in and answer the plea, so O positive, for instance, has crept up to four/four and a half days and O negative is up around three days."
Prado notes the blood bank wants to get to seven days supply ideally, and he adds the blood emergency is for three weeks.
Blood donors can give every 56 days with platelet donors twice per month, and to make an appointment at a location near you, you can visit delmarvablood.org.
