Severe national blood shortage may force doctors to augment patient care, officials say

"The current situation ... is the most concerning I have seen in my career."

As the COVID-19 pandemic comes to a close, more Americans are seeking medical care -- only to find roadblocks to long-awaited elective surgeries or unexpected traumatic injuries: a critical national shortage of blood. In June, the blood supply dropped to "red" level, indicating dangerously low supply at blood centers nation-wide, according to the AABB Interorganizational Task Force on Domestic Disasters and Acts of Terrorism. Donated blood products have always been in high demand in the United States. But now, doctors say, the crisis has reached a new, critical turning point, forcing some to triage medical care, reserving blood products only for the sickest patients. According to the Red Cross, the supplier of 40% of the nation's blood supply, nearly 7,000 units of platelets and 36,000 units of red blood cells are needed daily. On average, an American needs blood products every two seconds.