Hospital News

2007 Press Releases

Blood Supply lags both at the Shore and Nationwide

LONG BRANCH, NJ, January 10, 2007 - We're running out of blood.

That's the word from Terri Longdo, the blood bank supervisor at Kimball Medical Center in Lakewood.

According to the American Red Cross, a five-day supply is the optimum safe level of blood supply. As of last week, there was less than a one day's supply of Type-O blood at the ready.

"These are critical levels for blood supplies," Longdo said. "For a hospital patient in need of a blood transfusion, there is no substitute for that blood — it must come from a volunteer."

January usually is a particularly difficult month to collect blood, said Michael J. Corrigan, regional operations director of laboratory services at Community and Kimball medical centers.

"Blood supplies drop significantly during the holiday season and winter months," Corrigan said. "People are just busy with other things and don't think about donating blood."

This is why the American Red Cross has long recognized January as National Blood Donor Month and encourages healthy individuals who are at least 17 years old and 110 pounds to donate blood during this month and to pledge to donate blood at least one more time during 2007.

And the definition of "healthy" is pretty broad, according to Rich Felice, director of the blood bank at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch.

"Healthy," he said, is defined as when a donor "feels well and can perform normal activities."

Even such conditions as high blood pressure or diabetes will not necessarily disqualify a prospective donor, if that donor is being treated and the condition is under control.

Pat McTighe is the community relations director of the Central Jersey Blood Center with headquarters in Shrewsbury. The mission of the organization, she said, is to provide an adequate, high-quality and safe supply of blood, blood products and other related services to meet the needs of area hospitals.

January is a tough time to do that.

"Twelve percent of our blood is collected from high schools and colleges," McTighe said, "and school vacations and holidays cut into donations."

She would like people to know that 1 pint of blood can save up to three lives, and that while she is hopeful that the current crisis in blood supply may be alleviated, the battle to maintain that supply is always fierce.

"New Jersey is a state with 8 million people, and every year we have to import about 70,000 units of blood from other parts of the country," she said.

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