Winter storms drive blood supply to critical levels in New Jersey

DELRAN, N.J. (WPVI) — Blood donations typically decline around the holidays as people juggle busy schedules, but state officials say January snow and ice have made an already challenging situation more severe, leaving blood supplies at concerningly low levels.

Since the start of January, winter weather has forced widespread cancellations of blood drives across the country, compounding the seasonal dip in donations.

“Since January, we’ve had to cancel about 500 blood drives. That’s about 20,000 uncollected donations across the country,” said Kim Goetz, interim CEO of the American Red Cross New Jersey Region.

After storms disrupted area collections, New Jersey issued an alert warning that the state has less than a week’s supply of red blood cells and less than a day’s supply of platelets.

Officials with the American Red Cross, which collects 40% of the nation’s blood donations, say the current situation is the most critical it has been in about a year and a half.

“We are seeing a particular shortage that’s impacting platelets, type O blood and A negative and B negative. However, we have a need for all blood types,” Goetz said.

Virtua Health is currently managing blood supplies across its five South Jersey hospitals. Officials there say no surgeries have been canceled or postponed, but they are closely monitoring inventory levels, especially platelets.

“Platelets are the lifeblood of surgery to help the patient recover. And that’s what’s affected the most. Platelets only last five days. By the time a hospital receives platelets, they might only survive three days,” said Ahmed Salahuddin, vice president of lab services at Virtua Health.

At a blood donation center in Delran, donors continued to roll up their sleeves in an effort to help rebuild the supply.

Officials stress that each pint plays a role in stabilizing supplies, both locally and nationwide.

“There are so many situations out there where people need this critical blood, and the only way we can make sure we have it is if enough donors come through the door,” Goetz said.