The American Red Cross has a shortage of emergency blood and platelet supplies and needs the public’s help to restock.
Blood donor turnout during the pandemic has hit a steep decline, but demand from patients continues to be high.
Regional Communications Director Sharon Watson says this is the lowest inventory the Red Cross has had since 2015.
“It's gotten to the point in recent weeks where we've been down to just having a very short supply, less than a day's supply of certain blood types on the shelves, and that puts everything in in a difficult situation. We don't ever want to be at the point where someone doesn't have the blood they need.”
Watson says to return to normal levels, they need to collect 10,000 additional donations a week.
People are eligible to donate every 56 days.
