Pandemic is leading to blood shortages
Over 1,000 drives were canceled
After losing thousands of donations this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, San Antonio’s blood bank is reporting critical shortages in blood products that could jeopardize surgeries and the treatment of trauma patients.
The South Texas Blood and Tissue Center, which supplies blood to hospitals across 40 counties in the region, has such low inventories that it can immediately fulfill only about half of hospitals’ orders for Type O blood, which is used for emergency transfusions.
The blood bank has been struggling to maintain an adequate supply of blood since the onset of the pandemic, even after Mayor Ron Nirenberg designated blood donation as an essential activity. Shutdowns and work-from-home policies resulted in the cancellation of more than 1,000 local blood drives at workplaces, churches, schools and college campuses that the center relies on to maintain an adequate supply of blood.
In a statement, the blood center said the pandemic “has had a devastating impact on the community blood supply.”
The organization requires about 500 donations a day to keep its shelves stocked, but so far in October, the number has been below 300.
South Texas Blood and Tissue was unable to collect an estimated 7,500 donations this summer, as the coronavirus surged across San Antonio, infecting tens of thousands of residents and killing more than 1,000.
Dr. Samantha Gomez, the blood bank’s associate medical director, said that while blood shortages are not uncommon, especially around the holidays, this prolonged period of low supplies is different.
“This is actually the worst it’s been,” she said. “It’s why we’re really appealing to the donors to come out and donate.”
Donated blood is used for emer--
gency transfusions after injuries from car crashes, shootings and accidents. It’s also needed for medical emergencies, including gastrointestinal bleeds and hemorrhages during childbirth; nonemergency procedures; and scheduled surgeries, such as organ transplants.
Dr. Leslie Greebon, medical director of transfusion services for University Hospital, one of the city’s two Level 1 trauma centers, said the hospital has already had to postpone some treatments for hours or until the next day as it waited for orders of blood. People who are stable, such as cancer patients with low blood counts, are being affected the most.
“It’s a chain effect, and it definitely can affect all the different patient populations, not just the ones that are actively bleeding,” Greebon said.
If the shortage continues, the hospital could be forced to cancel more procedures or divert medical or trauma patients to other hospitals — what Greebon called the “worst case scenario” — as it
tries to preserve blood for the patients who are already being treated.
“It is a big concern that if this continues this way and we’re not able to get the blood that we need,
we’ll have to cancel elective surgeries for an extended period of time,” she said.
South Texas Blood and Tissue keeps reserves of whole blood and individual components of blood —
red blood cells, plasma and platelets — which are also used in the treatment of patients with medical conditions. Since April, the center has also been collecting donations of blood plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19 for the treatment of actively ill patients.
The blood bank is usually able to collect a significant amount of donations in the fall, when waves of students return to high school and college campuses. However, the pandemic has forced many of those campuses to conduct classes remotely and limit the number of people allowed in facilities.
The center estimates the pandemic will prevent it from collecting 3,500 donations of blood in October and 8,500 donations throughout the fall.