Around this time last year, the blood supply situation was bleak.
The COVID-19 pandemic had led to two years of canceled blood drives and staffing shortages at local blood banks. Supplies of blood at hospitals were running dangerously low all over the region.
“Last year we had a critical shortage,” said Dr. Peter Christ, chair of the pathology department at Penn St. Health St. Joseph hospital. “I’ve been doing this since 1986 and I’ve never seen anything like last year.”
The shortage forced hospitals to rethink how they operate. Suddenly, they were faced with making difficult choices they never imagined facing.
“It changes how you give out blood,” Christ said. “You have to call all of the clinicians and ask if they can hold off on using products. In some cases we were giving half units of red cell products.
“I don’t ever want to go through that again.”
Fortunately, over the past 12 months the situation has begun to improve, and the blood shortage is no longer critical. But that doesn’t mean it’s time to relax.
A perfect storm slowly passing
Dr. Kip Kuttner, vice president and medical director of Miller-Keystone Blood Center, said 2021 and early 2022 were a perfect storm of challenges that created a unique situation.
Miller-Keystone, an Allentown-based blood bank that serves Berks County, saw a major dip in donors. Because of COVID, there was a lack of drives at schools and businesses. Blood banks typically rely on these events to ensure a steady supply.
And, Kuttner said, concerns about the disease kept some donors from visiting Miller-Keystone’s donation centers, including the one at 1047 Old Bernville Road in Bern Township.
On top of that, the blood bank faced the same labor shortage that many employers in a variety of fields were battling.
Early in the pandemic, through much of 2020, that lack of donors didn’t hurt blood supplies too badly. Usage of blood went down steeply as people stayed at home and surgeries were postponed.
Eventually usage went back up. But donations didn’t follow.
Fast forward to the start of 2023, and the supply is starting to catch up, Kuttner said.
“I’m the glass half-empty guy,” Kuttner said. “But I think the message to send is that, yes, we’re doing better than we did in 2022. But we’re not out of the woods yet.”
Kuttner said several places across the U.S., such as New Orleans and parts of California, are still experiencing critical shortages. And despite local blood supplies being significantly replenished, the region easily could slip back into a difficult situation.
Kuttner said the supply of blood needs to continue to grow in order for the region to get to the point where it’s past concerns about facing another critical shortage.
“It’s difficult to put a number to it, but I would say we’re a ways away,” he said. “Assuming there’s no outside influence that forces us to change our business plan again like we did during the pandemic, I think we could be in good shape by the end of the year.”
Like Kuttner, Beth Frey, manager of the blood bank at Penn State Health St. Joseph hospital, said she has seen a big change in the supply compared with this time in 2022.
“From last year until now, I feel as though the availability of blood products has improved,” she said.
Frey said the hospital’s blood supply has returned to very close to or even equal to levels seen before the pandemic. Part of the reason, she said, is an effort to manage the inventory more strictly.
“We’re asking our clinicians to make sure that the blood they’re using and the amounts they’re using are really necessary,” she said.
That is particularly important now, Frey said, as the hospital has seen inventory take a dip over the past few weeks. It’s typical for that to happen over the holiday season, she said, with people focused on gathering with families and many dealing with winter illnesses like the flu.
And she’s aware that blood suppliers like Miller-Keystone are still having difficulty getting donors and hiring staff.
Kuttner said staffing shortages have been almost as big of a problem as the lack of donors. Fortunately, he added, the blood bank is starting to have a bit more luck in the hiring process.
“We’re starting to see people who want to come work for us,” he said. “They’re going through the training and staying. But it is a hard job.”
Donors still needed
Like St. Joseph, Reading Hospital is seeing a holiday dip in blood supply and is working to manage it.
“Reading Hospital continues to closely monitor our blood supply and is currently experiencing lower than normal blood inventory, particularly O positive and O negative types,” a statement from the hospital says.
The statement says the hospital is working with Miller-Keystone to set up blood drives at the hospital throughout the year. They have also set up Adopt-A-Day events for hospital employees, family and friends to donate at Miller Keystone’s center.
Kuttner said there is a particular need right now for Rh negative blood products, which are O, A, B or AB negative blood. Positive blood types are more common, he explained.
Frey said she is seeing a need for O negative blood and platelets.
“But any type is always appreciated,” she added.
Christ said encouraging people to donate, no matter what blood type they have, is crucial to making it possible for hospitals to do their important work.
“Basically, we’re asking people to donate blood so we have it for people who critically need it,” he said. “They’re saving lives. Without enough product people will die, that I will guarantee you.
“And blood is not something you can manufacture. We rely on people who volunteer to give blood. All the people who donate are godsends.”
How to donate
Appointments can be made to donate blood at Miller-Keystone by visiting GIVEaPINT.org or by calling 1-800-B-A-DONOR.
Additionally, St. Joseph will be holding blood drives on the following dates:
• Feb. 10
• May 1.
• July 13.
• Sept. 29.
• Dec. 15.
Each drive is held in Franciscan Rooms A and B on the second floor of the medical center and run from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Appointments can be made by visiting redcrossblood.org.
For information on upcoming Miller-Keystone blood drives visit donor.giveapint.org/donor/schedules/zip.
