Blood donation centers are pleading for volunteers amid a 35% drop in New Jersey stockpiles. The need is so critical that hospitals and donor sites are planning emergency drives for platelets, which expire within days.
“New Jersey has just a few days’ supply of Type O, A-, and B- red blood cells, and less than one day’s supply of single-donor platelets,” the state health department said in a statement on Monday.
Winter storms and high flu activity have helped to fuel a wave of 500 canceled drives nationwide since the year’s start, according to the American Red Cross, the nation’s largest blood supplier. To encourage participation, the Red Cross is offering $20 e-gift cards.
“The need is dire,” said Kim Goetz, interim chief executive officer of the American Red Cross New Jersey Region. The canceled drives led to about 20,000 missed donations nationally, “a tremendous amount of blood we didn’t have the opportunity to collect,” she said. “It’s going to take each and every one of us to help rebuild the supply to a healthy level.”
Empty beds
Blood reserves have dropped by roughly 35% in just the past month, with hospital requests outpacing supply, according to the health department.
At a Tinton Falls drive, some donors said they knew the need firsthand.
“I’ve gone through this with my parents — they both needed blood at different times, and sometimes it was an issue getting it,” said platelet donor William Donald. “It’s a shame. I come here often and don’t see the beds filled.”
RWJBarnabas Health, the state’s largest academic health-care system, uses more than 65,000 blood units per year, including about 16,000 units of single-donor platelets. RWJBarnabas Health is an underwriter of NJ Spotlight News.
“We’re particularly concerned about platelet inventory because of advanced cancer therapies through the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, and complex surgical procedures like open heart surgery, which require platelets on hand,” Sally Wells, blood services business liaison for the health system, told NJ Spotlight News.
Platelets, which must be used within five days, are difficult to stockpile, so hospitals and blood centers are scheduling emergency platelet drives throughout February.
Remembering Mom
In Tinton Falls, Edward Render, a longtime platelet donor, needed no encouragement.
“My wife has a friend with a rare disease who needs platelets, so we both decided we’d do this more often,” Render said.
All blood products are needed, according to the Red Cross.
“Before my mother died, she was very sick for the last five years of her life,” donor Maria Geletei said at the Tinton Falls Drive. “She had several operations and required blood, and as a very young child she needed transfusions. That always stuck with me.”
Donating takes about an hour from check-in to completion for whole blood, and roughly two hours for platelets. Donors must be at least 17 years old, or 16 with parental consent, weigh at least 110 pounds and be in good health.
