ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The Red Cross in St. Louis is warning there's now less than half a day's worth of blood supply on hand in region. The organization declared a national blood crisis for the first time in its 140-year history.
Shelves that are normally full of blood products are empty, says Cheif of Pathology at Missouri Baptist Hospital, Dr. Rhonda Cooke. She oversees the blood supply at several St. Louis-area hospitals and says if something doesn't turnaround fast, there might not be enough blood for all kinds of emergencies.
"All I see are empty shelves," Cooke says. "We have cancer patients who get blood transfusions two or three times a week, car accident victims, gunshot wounds, when someone needs a heart valve (we need blood)."
The shortage is blamed on the COVID spike with many organizations cancelling their blood drives. The American Red Cross says its current blood supply is at its lowest level in more than 10 years.
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"It's very hard to deal with as a physician to tell another doctor that I don't have what they need to help save their patients," Cooke says. "Patients could die. If we don't have the products and they bleed to death, that's just tragic. And it's unnecessary."
For more information on how you can give blood, you can call 1-800-RED-CROSS, or go to Redcrossblood.org and enter your zip code for the site nearest you.
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