‘A little dire’: Kansas City blood banks face shortage in ‘perfect storm’ of obstacles
Summer is always slow for the Community Blood Center of Greater Kansas City. Donations drop off because of vacations and busy schedules, just as warmer weather brings a spike in emergency room visits.
But with the loss of 25,000 regular blood donors who have gone MIA since the the pandemic arrived last year, the center is desperate for fresh blood.
“It’s a little dire,” Chelsey Smith, outreach and communications coordinator for the center, said when she pleaded for donations during one of the University of Kansas Health System’s daily COVID briefings.
The American Red Cross, which supplies about 40% of the nation’s donated blood, has declared a severe blood shortage in the country.
Currently, “hospitals are responding to a high number of traumas in emergency rooms. In comparison to 2019, it’s up 10% in 2021,” said Brittany Rochell, a spokeswoman for the American Red Cross of Kansas and Oklahoma.
People stopped donating and haven’t returned, leaving the Kansas City center hurting for donations for more than a year now. The center hasn’t had any younger, first-time donors in a year.
Perhaps the enticement of free Kansas City Royals tickets will bring some back?
“Blood centers all across the country are seeing similar numbers,” said Smith.
The Kansas City center currently has a three-day supply of blood on hand — than that for Type O-negative and O-positive — but needs a seven-day reserve, said Smith. Supplies haven’t been that plentiful since March 2020, when the pandemic hit.
The center needs 600 donations a day to keep up with demand, and officials worry these continuing shortages will become a new normal.
Two weeks ago, the Kansas City center dropped to a one-day supply of O-negative and O-positive blood types.
“As the region reopens, local blood usage is going up and far outpacing the number of donations we are receiving,” Patsy Shipley, the center’s senior director of donor recruitment and collections, said in a statement.
Though the blood center publicizes the precautions it takes to keep donors COVID-safe, Smith thinks coronavirus concerns are keeping some donors away.
“We do think there’s a population of people who probably still do have those concerns about maybe contracting COVID if they come in and donate,” she said.
Over the coming months, the center also plans to get back to holding the hundreds of monthly community blood drives that were stopped during the pandemic, said Smith.
You can find mobile drive locations at a variety of places around town — churches, banks, car dealerships, Oak Park Mall, YMCAs, government offices. Donation sites can be found, and appointments made, at savealifenow.org or by calling 877-468-6844. The donation process takes about an hour.
Through July 9, the Kansas City center is giving donors a Royals T-shirt, hat or two tickets to a game as part of its annual Royals Week promotion.
People who donate blood:
▪ Must be at least 17, or 16 with parental consent. The consent form is on savealifenow.org.
▪ Are required to wear a face mask, even if they’ve had a COVID-19 vaccine.
▪ Must be 14 days symptom-free if they had COVID-19.
People cannot donate:
▪ If they tested positive for COVID-19 or had symptoms in the last 14 days.
▪ If they are currently on self-quarantine restrictions.
If you have questions about your eligibility because of medications you are taking or any other reason, call 800-688-0900.
To donate to the American Red Cross, appointments can be scheduled on redcrossblood.org or by calling 800-733-2767. A list of upcoming local drives is at redcrossblood.org/give.
Includes reporting by Matt Kelly of the Wichita Eagle.
