A few minutes of your time could become the blood that keeps an emergency room ready, helps a mother through a crisis in childbirth or gives a cancer patient the treatment they need.
Right now, that gift is urgently needed.
The American Red Cross declared an emergency blood shortage Monday after the nation’s blood supply fell nearly 25% in June, creating a widening gap between available blood and the needs of patients in hospitals.
TAKE ACTION NOW: Schedule a blood or platelet donation through the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit RedCrossBlood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
The message to Americans who may be eligible to donate is simple: Don’t wait.
Red Cross blood distributions to hospitals are running nearly 3,500 units higher per week than expected. At the same time, donations have declined sharply since the end of May as busy summer schedules, temporary illnesses and the seasonal loss of school blood drives reduce the number of people giving.
All blood types are needed. The shortage is particularly serious for O positive and B negative blood and AB plasma.
Without an immediate response from donors, the people at risk include trauma patients, mothers in childbirth and patients living with sickle cell disease or cancer.
“Summer always brings challenges for the blood supply but patients are still in the hospital, needing blood for critical medical care,” said Dr. Courtney Lawrence, division chief medical officer for the Red Cross.
“Without blood available, emergency rooms and maternity wards are paralyzed and patients with life threatening conditions or injuries may not get the treatments they need. By donating blood, you help our doctors and nurses save lives. We urge all those who may be eligible to give now to end this shortage.”
Behind Every Donation Is a Person Waiting
The urgency is more than a statistic.
On Independence Day in 2023, 7-year-old Allie Harris was enjoying a holiday parade when she was accidentally run over while attempting to get off a parade float.
She suffered 19 broken bones, a lacerated liver, a skull fracture, lung bruises and other serious injuries.
“I said, ‘Is she okay?’ and they said, ‘I don’t know.’ That moment, I knew right there, I knew something was very wrong,” Allie’s mother, Lauren, said.
Emergency medical care and blood transfusions helped save Allie’s life.
Today, her family hosts a blood drive each July to celebrate her recovery and help provide blood for the next person facing an unimaginable moment.
“I will never be able to truly express my gratitude,” Lauren said. “I feel like thank you is just not sufficient.”
Someone in the United States receives a blood transfusion every two seconds, according to the Red Cross. Yet a recent Red Cross survey found fewer than 1 in 5 respondents understood that blood cannot simply be stockpiled indefinitely. It has a limited shelf life and must continually be replenished by volunteer donors.
That means the nation’s blood supply depends on people making a choice — again and again — to show up.
Today, You Can Be One of Those People
“Heartitude is about recognizing the moment when another person’s need meets our ability to help,” Heartitude founder Bruce Petillo said. “This is one of those moments. You may never know the name of the person who receives your blood, but to that person and their family, your decision to give could mean everything.”
The need is immediate.
If you may be eligible, make the appointment today. Ask a friend, family member or co-worker to join you. If you cannot donate, share the call for donors with someone who can.
One appointment.
One act of generosity.
One person choosing not to wait.
That is how a blood shortage begins to end — and how lives are saved.
TAKE ACTION NOW: Schedule a blood or platelet donation through the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit RedCrossBlood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
Don’t assume someone else will go.
If you can give, please give now.