The American Red Cross is facing a critical shortage of type A, B and O blood.
Right now, the Red Cross has less than a two-day supply of type O blood available for emergency rooms, where it can be most critical. That means just six units of type O blood are available for every 100,000 people, but at least 14 are needed every day. While just 7% of the U.S. population has type O negative blood, it can be transfused to patients with any blood type and is what hospital staff reach for during emergencies when there isn’t time to determine a patient’s blood type. Type O positive blood is the most transfused blood type and is also critical in trauma situations.
The Red Cross is asking eligible type donors to make an appointment to donate blood.
If you would like to make an appointment to donate blood or platelets, call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
Source: WAVE
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