Red Cross: Blood Supply ‘Historically Low’

By Benjamin Cox on December 8, 2021 at 6:19pm

The blood supply across Central Illinois is historically low, according to the American Red Cross.

The Red Cross has put out another call for blood, with donations lagging. RFD Illinois reports that the holiday season is traditionally one of the slower times of year for donations.

Joe Zydlo, the External Communications Manager for the American Red Cross Missouri-Illinois Blood Services Region, says this is something they haven’t seen in about a decade: “We are still having those issues with the historically low blood supplies really for the first time in about 10 years. Typically, this is the time of year when we would have those struggles [getting donations], but it seems like we’ve had these struggles with emergency or severe shortages really over the last six and a half months. It’s very dire…kind of a weird time if you will, and we just want to remind people to continue to make sure that they come out and donate blood if they are healthy and eligible to do that.”

The organization, which supplies about 40% of all blood across the country, said the “historically low” blood supply can partly be blamed on the pandemic but also on holiday season keeping people busy. In a statement this week, they said: “If more donors don’t come forward to give blood, some patients requiring a transfusion may potentially face delays in care.”

All blood types are needed. Appointments can be made by calling 1-800-RED CROSS, on the Red Cross Blood Donor App, or by visiting redcrossblood.org.