NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans area hospitals have been experiencing a shortage of blood supplies that could impact patients who can't wait for treatment, and that's because fewer people are donating blood.
"People who have to have surgeries that can't be postponed — chemotherapy patients, especially, and neonates in the area — our newborn babies will always require blood components," Dr. Tim Petereson with The Blood Center said. "They will always need help, and in their situation, every day is a crisis."
Doctors with The Blood Center told WWLTV's Duke Carter that donors with type O blood are even more sought after because those donations could be given to patients with other blood types.
Patients depend on donors for life-saving treatments. The Blood Center needs to collect about 250 units daily to serve over 60 area hospitals in Southern Louisiana and Mississippi.
While a drop in donations over the summer season is normal, an increase in demand and a decrease in blood donations due to the COVID-19 pandemic have brought supplies even lower.
The concern doctors have been expressing reflects the potential impacts a blood shortage would have on patients in the New Orleans area.
"The need is so extensive that we need their help," Dr. Petereson said of blood donors. "Understand; there are many people who are in need of their help."
Dr. Peterson said the Blood Center wants to make donors feel as comfortable as they would be going to a restaurant or shopping, to encourage more people to give blood.
In addition to more donors, The Blood Center, the largest provider of blood and blood components in the area, also needs locations to safely collect blood and staff to help collect donations.
“As hospitalizations increase, so does the need for blood and blood components,” Paul Adams, public relations manager for The Blood Center, said. “While elective surgeries have subsided, emergencies have not, making type O blood increasingly crucial to hospital care.”
The Blood Center is also screening for COVID-19 antibodies of all blood donations to identify potential convalescent plasma donors.
People not feeling well should not try to donate blood.
Donating Blood?
- Eat a good meal before donating and visit TheBloodCenter.org on the day of donation to begin the registration screening to accelerate the donation process.
- Donors need to wear a mask, be in good health, weigh 110 lbs. and be 17 years of age (or 16 with a parent’s consent).