Facing Critical Blood Shortage, Red Cross Offers Gift Cards To Entice Donations
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The American Red Cross says there's a blood shortage everywhere and if more donors don't come forward, some surgeries could end up being postponed until more blood comes in.
According to the Red Cross, there's less than a two day supply of Type O blood available for emergency rooms. This is a critical shortage, the Red Cross says, especially because Type O-negative is a universal blood type that can be transfused to any patient -- regardless of their own blood type.
"If you have an emergency in your life or your loved one's life, you want to know when you get to the hospital there's gonna be blood there," said Dan Tobin, director of marketing & communications for the Greater Pittsburgh area's Red Cross.
Typically, Tobin says, the Red Cross likes to have a five-day supply of Type O on hand, but it's tough to do that, especially at this time of year.
"In April, we collected a lot less blood than normal. Most of that was due to spring breaks ironically enough. Twenty percent of our blood collection during the school year comes from school drives, colleges and high schools," said Tobin.
Dr. Darrell Triulzi, a professor of pathology at the University of Pittsburgh, says he's never seen the blood supply this low. Triulzi is also a medical director at Vitalant Clinical Services, formerly Central Blood Bank. He says there were around 90,000 blood donors in Pittsburgh 10 years ago.
Now there's only about half of that, and it's mainly because younger people aren't donating at the same rate as their parents once were, according to Triulzi. He says doctors may not feel the demand, because suppliers are scrambling behind the scenes. Right now, he says blood is being triaged to women of childbearing age and children.
The Red Cross says patients could end up noticing a shortage down the road if things don't change soon.
"If blood supply runs too low, you could see somewhere down the line, things that are elective in nature maybe needing to be held off just because you want to reserve the blood for emergencies," said Tobin.
As an incentive, anyone who donates blood or platelets now through June 10 will receive a $5 Amazon gift card in their email from the Red Cross.
If you would like to donate, visit RedCrossBlood.org, or find out how to download their app here.
There are also several upcoming blood donation opportunities coming up in Western Pennsylvania. Here's the complete list:
Allegheny County
Pittsburgh
5/17/2019: 2 p.m. - 7 p.m., The Brashear Center, 2005 Sarah Street
5/29/2019: 12 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., Main Event Entertainment, 200 Quinn Dr.
5/30/2019: 9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m., VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, University Drive C
5/31/2019: 1:30 p.m. - 7 p.m., Swissvale FD, 7400 Irvine Street
6/3/2019: 10:30 a.m. - 3 p.m., Rivers Club, One Oxford Centre, 301 Grant Street, Suite 411
Warrendale
5/21/2019: 9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m., Keystone Summit Park, 4000 Ericsson Drive
Beaver County
Beaver
5/14/2019: 12 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., American Red Cross, 133 Friendship Circle
5/23/2019: 12 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., American Red Cross, 133 Friendship Circle
5/27/2019: 8:30 a.m. - 2 p.m., Heritage Valley Beaver Education Center, 1000 Dutch Ridge Road
Butler County
Cranberry Township
6/4/2019: 11 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Residence Inn by Marriott, 1308 Freedom Road
Clarion County
Clarion
5/14/2019: 11 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., The Villlas At Water Run, 300 Water Run Road
6/3/2019: 12:30 p.m. - 6 p.m., Clarion American Legion, 530 E Main Street
6/4/2019: 11 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Clarion Hospital, One Hospital Drive
Knox
5/24/2019: 9 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., Keystone High School, 700 Beatty Ave
Lucinda
5/15/2019: 12 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., St. Joseph Church, 112 Rectory Lane
Fayette County
Brownsville
6/4/2019: 12 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., First Christian Church, 512 Second Street
Connellsville
5/25/2019: 8:30 a.m. - 2 p.m., Pleasant Valley Masonic Lodge, Route 982, 530 Pleasant Valley Road
5/30/2019: 12 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., Calvary Assembly of God, 1316 Pittsburgh St
Grindstone
5/30/2019: 1:30 p.m. - 7 p.m., Grace Baptist Church, 1014 West Third St
Normalville
5/16/2019: 1:30 p.m. - 7 p.m., Springfield Clifford N. Pritts Elementary School, 14 School House Road
Uniontown
5/27/2019: 8:30 a.m. - 2 p.m., Uniontown Community, 58 Dunbar St.
Greene County
Waynesburg
6/4/2019: 12:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., VFW #4793, 445 E. Lincoln Street
Indiana County
Blairsville
5/17/2019: 1:30 p.m. - 6 p.m., Blairsville Community Center, 101 E North Ave
5/31/2019: 1 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., Blairsville VFW Post 5821, 9626 US 22, William Penn Hwy
Clune
5/31/2019: 1:30 p.m. - 6 p.m., Coal Run Fire Department, 2049 Coal Run Road
Clymer
5/17/2019: 8:30 a.m. - 2 p.m., Penns Manor High School, 6003 RTE 553 Hwy
5/30/2019: 8:30 a.m. - 2 p.m., Penns Manor High School, 6003 RTE 553 Hwy
Creekside
5/21/2019: 2 p.m. - 6 p.m., Creekside Volunteer Fire Dept., 440 Indiana Road
Indiana
5/21/2019: 12 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., Ben Franklin Elementary School, 95 Ben Franklin Rd.
5/24/2019: 12 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., Christ Our Savior Orthodox Church, 6768 Tanoma Rd., PO Box 1101
5/27/2019: 8 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., Indiana Mall, 2334 Oakland Avenue
6/5/2019: 10:30 a.m. - 3 p.m., Indiana Regional Medical Center, Hospital Road Box 788
Plumville
5/24/2019: 1:30 p.m. - 7 p.m., Plumville Volunteer Fire Hall, 107 Indiana St
Lawrence County
New Wilmington
5/20/2019: 1 p.m. - 6:30 p.m., New Wilmington Presbyterian Church, 229 S. Market Street
Mercer County
Greenville
5/20/2019: 1 p.m. - 6:30 p.m., Jerusalem Christian Church, 560 Donation Rd
Hermitage
5/16/2019: 12 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 3325 Morefield Rd
6/6/2019: 12 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 3325 Morefield Rd
Mercer
5/28/2019: 12:30 p.m. - 6 p.m., Mercer Methodist Church, 250 E Butler Street
Washington County
Canonsburg
5/29/2019: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., Greenery Center for Rehab and Nursing, 2200 Hill Church Houston Rd.
Westmoreland County
Apollo
6/5/2019: 12:30 p.m. - 6 p.m., Kiski Twp. Volunteer Fire Department, 1037 PA 56
Greensburg
5/15/2019: 10 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., Westmoreland County Courthouse, Courthouse Square, 2 North Main Street
5/17/2019: 12 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., Quatrini Rafferty, 550 E. Pittsburgh St
5/18/2019: 9 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., St. Michael's Orthodox Church, 1182 Ashland St.
5/22/2019: 12 p.m. - 6 p.m., Greensburg Blood Donation Center, 351 Harvey Avenue
5/31/2019: 8 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., Aestique, One Aesthetic Way
6/5/2019: 2 p.m. - 6:30 p.m., Greensburg Hose Co. 1, 6 McLaughlin Dr
Hunker
5/24/2019: 1 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., New Life Tabernacle, 851 South Center Avenue
Irwin
5/23/2019: 11:30 a.m. - 5 p.m., Excela Square Norwin, 8775 Norwin Avenue
Jones Mills
5/29/2019: 12:30 p.m. - 5 p.m., Donegal Community Center, Donegal Event Center, 113 Community Center Ln
Latrobe
5/28/2019: 12:30 p.m. - 5 p.m., American Legion Post 515, 1811 Ligonier St
6/4/2019: 11 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., St. Vincent Parish Grove, 320 Monastery Drive
6/5/2019: 11:30 a.m. - 5 p.m., Excela Square at Latrobe, 100 Excela Health Dr.
Monessen
5/22/2019: 1 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., Monessen Senior Community Center, 1925 Grand Boulevard
Mount Pleasant
5/27/2019: 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., Frick Hospital, 508 S. Church St.
Scottdale
5/22/2019: 12 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., Christ United Methodist Church, 201 Market St
Vandergrift
5/20/2019: 12 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., Vandergrift Masonic Lodge # 617, 113 Washington Ave
West Newton
5/29/2019: 12:30 p.m. - 6 p.m., West Newton Lions Club, 511 W. Pittsburgh St
Other blood drives include one coming at Hotel Monaco through Vitalant Tuesday, June 4, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit their event Facebook page here.
Other blood drives through Vitalant include:
Allegheny: Pittsburgh VA
Beaver: Heritage Valley, Beaver
Clarion: Clarion Community Hospital
Fayette: Highands Hospital, Uniontown Hospital
Indiana: Indiana Regional Medical Center
Lawrence: Ellwood City Medical Center
Mercer: Sharon Regional Health System
Westmoreland: Excela Health's three hospitals, Westmoreland, Latrobe and Frick
Those hospitals serve the Red Cross.
Vitalant serves AHN and UPMC hospitals in Pittsburgh. They use the blood they collect at blood drives for these hospitals.
