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Jan B. Wade · #1 (**permalink**) 08-06-2004, 09:47 AM

An Answer to the Blood Supply Crisis
By - Jan B. Wade

Nation's blood supply failing to meet demand - Fears emerge that new restrictions on
blood donors will add to a year of national shortages. American Medical News Aug. 20, 2001

World facing serious shortage of safe blood - The world is facing a severe shortage of
blood for transfusions. The News International Thursday April 08, 2004

Area's Blood Supply Reaches Emergency Levels; American Red Cross Needs Blood Donors Today. American Red Cross, Penn-Jersey Region Monday June 28, 2004

NEW YORK BLOOD CENTER FEARS - WORST BLOOD SHORTAGE EVER THIS
SUMMER --Some Blood Types Already Being Rationed - NEW YORK, NY, JUNE 21, 2004

Eastern Kentucky Facing Blood Supply Shortage - The blood supply regionally has
dropped to critical levels, forcing the American Red Cross to cut back on hospital orders,
officials said. WKYT online June 30, 2004

Eighty-two percent of the world's population does not have access to a regular and safe
supply of blood, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday, ahead of World
Blood Donor Day next week. GENEVA, June 10 (Xinhuanet)

"â€¦the majority of the American Red Cross Blood Services regions operating with less
than one day's supply of blood, the potential for catastrophe is slowly climbing."
DisasterRelief.org 2004

Blood banks have asked hospitals in Atlanta, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. to
postpone elective surgery, Ensinger said. New York, Chicago, Detroit, Cincinnati and
parts of Oregon were considering similar requests. 01/08/99 - Associated Press

Blood banks were begging for donors Monday and hospitals have postponed elective
surgery after more than two weeks of harsh winter weather worsened the nation's usual
post-holiday blood shortage. 01/05/99 - Associated Press

The Los Angeles area blood shortage is getting more acute by the day, forcing one
hospital to delay transfusions Tuesday, another to nearly cancel two. 01/14/98 Washington Post

Serious Blood Shortage Threatens Local Hospitals - The region's blood supply is not keeping pace with demand. 06/22/98 - Seattle Times

Winter'98 blood shortages - worsening by the day. More blood centers issuing public
appeals for blood donors now than at the beginning of the week. American Blood Centers Press
Release

The American Blood Center reports, "Blood centers often run short of type O and B
blood. Shortages of all types of blood occur during the summer and winter holidays. Red
blood cells can be stored for up to 42 days. Platelets can be stored for only five days."
"Shortages are worsening because demand is growing and the donor base is shrinking.
Demand continues to increase because of the aging of the patient population and
increased use of blood intensive procedures such as solid organ transplants,
hematopoietic progenitor cell transplants, aggressive chemotherapy, etcâ€¦. We must now
resort to emergency blood appeals during times of the year that used to be periods of
abundance. In the opinion of ABC members, the fragility of the blood supply is a public
health issue that must be addressed, and measures that affect the available donor base
must be managed carefully to prevent shortages that injure patientsâ€¦. we must recognize
that available data suggests that the U.S. blood supply is on the verge of a crisis."

"Many of us believe we're on the brink of a crisis," said Harvey Klein, MD, president of
the American Assn. of Blood Banks.

"For the first time in memory, we've had a year of national shortages, not just regional
shortages and not just shortages at what are generally considered to be the time periods
when blood is always in short supply," he said.

When shortages strike, banking officials must scramble to fill the demand. Sometimes
hospitals are asked to restrict or postpone surgical cases. The American Blood Center
observes, "Every three seconds someone needs blood. Blood and blood products are used
to treat accident and burn victims..." If blood supplies are depleted for elective cases what happens to accident victims who need blood to survive? A blood bank manager in Tacoma, WA comments, "Some days reserves are so low that one major traffic accident would totally drain our stores".

Hospitals Address the Shortage

In many communities help is coming from an unusual source â€“ the main users of blood,
Surgery Centers! All over the country a growing number of hospitals are taking steps to
drastically lower and in many cases eliminate blood use as they develop Transfusion Free
or Bloodless Medicine and Surgery Programs. These programs deliver virtually every
traditional medical service without blood transfusions. Jan Graziani, Director of the
Bloodless Medicine and Surgery at Chicago's Swedish Covenant Hospital say's, "Our
patients wouldn't be well served if all we did was tell them we would let them die rather
than give them blood. We don't just take blood out of the treatment arsenal. We provide
life saving alternatives to blood transfusions". Sharon Vernon, Director of Education for
Hemo Concepts and the Bloodless Medicine and Surgery Institute (BMSI) observed,
"Bloodless or Blood Conservation Programs not only decreased blood utilization hospital
wide, but as a result also lower the strain on the entire community blood supply".

While traditional treatment centers consider low blood supplies a dire emergency,
Bloodless Medicine and Surgery Programs consider it just another day in surgery. While
the blood banks are scrambling for donations, hospitals are doing their part by working to lower the amount of blood used. More and more hospitals are taking advantage of bloodless or transfusion-free medicine and surgery programs to accomplish this.

For Information on Developing a Blood Conservation Program contact Hemo Concepts Inc. - www.hemoconcepts.com

NoBlood

Bloodless Programs Help Solve Blood Supply Crisis