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Blood shortage worsens in central and northern New York as pandemic slows

Lisa Smith
/
American Red Cross
Michele Nesci donating blood at an American Red Cross blood drive in Syracuse

 

Even with the pandemic, the American Red Cross has kept up on blood donations over the past year. Despite that, the blood shortage is worse now than ever.

“Unfortunately, there are more car accidents and different kinds of injuries, number one, and number two is all those surgeries that were put off during COVID are being scheduled now,” said Lisa Smith the Executive Director of the Central and Northern New York branch of the American Red Cross.

She said on top of the surgical need for blood, people are now making up for the diagnostic work they rescheduled throughout the pandemic, further increasing the need for blood. 

“So what we found is the perfect storm, and we're going into the summer where it's often a lower donation cycle, but the need has grown tremendously,” she said.

While Smith said her branch of the Red Cross collected about 47,000 units of blood over the last year, which can help roughly 141,000 people, the blood they collected only lasts so long. Specifically, red blood lasts 42 days, platelets last five days, and plasma can last up to a year if frozen.

“Because of the shelf life of blood here we are,” she said about the struggle to meet the demand for blood. “We've actually had to collect about 70,000 more units across the country in the last three months than we had in the year previous.”

That’s why Smith said donations through the Red Cross are crucial to saving lives. 

“So if we can't, you know, collect enough blood, we can't help the people that need it most,” she said.

 

Madison Ruffo received a Master’s Degree from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, where she specialized in audio and health/science reporting. Madison has extensively covered the environment, local politics, public health, and business. When she’s not reporting, you can find Madison reading, hiking, and spending time with her family and friends.