Blood Bank of Delmarva hits all time low of blood supply

DOVER, Del. – “We just saw this unprecedented drop and we don’t know what caused it,” said Communications Specialist for the Blood Bank of Delmarva, Tony Prado.

It’s the first time in a long time that the Blood Bank of Delmarva has seen its blood supply so low this time a year.

“Usually, we’re sitting pretty right about now, and it’s not until we get to the dead of winter, the holidays where we have to issue a plea of this magnitude,” said Prado.

Normally the blood bank tries to get at least 380 donors a day to maintain a 7 day supply of blood for the hospitals they serve. But officials say those numbers keep getting lower and lower.

“When you start missing those targets one, two, three days and then for weeks at a time, you start to get nervous,” said Prado.

Officials tell 47 ABC they’re also trying to increase the number of African American and Hispanic donors who they say could help get them back on track.

“What’s great about African American and Hispanic donors, a lot of them are type O. 51% of African Americans, 57% of Hispanics. If we saw more of those folks coming in, we could probably get ahead of this shortage and be ok,” said Prado.

But they say it’s also important to educate the public about the process of donating blood and dispel any myths that sometimes can be associated with it.

“It’s maybe an hour at the most. And it doesn’t hurt. There’s a little prick on the arm when it comes out,” said donor Andrea Maucher.

And ultimately they want people to know that when you give blood you’re not only helping the blood bank, but you’re helping those affected by cancer, anemia, sickle cell disease and more to live another day.

“They rely on people to come into the local blood bank and give blood so that it’s on the shelf when they come into the hospital and when they need it,” said Prado.