Delmarva Blood Bank declares blood emergency

Delmarva- The Blood Bank of Delmarva announced a blood emergency following a period of low donor turnout stemming from holidays and school breaks.

According to the blood bank they currrently only have a 2 to 3 day supply of O negative blood and are also suffering a shortage of platelets.

However all donation types are needed.

“O-Negative is very important in the blood banking world and very important to hospitals and the patients they serve becuase its the universal donor. You can give patients O negative in a trauma and an emergency situation when you don’t know their blood types.” Says Tony Prado of the Blood Bank of Delmarva.

Type O negative is a universal blood type an represents only a small portion of the US population.

The blood bank also says that they are still recovering from a nearly 50% decrease in youth and first-time blood donors since 2019, which Prado says stems from the covid-19 pandemic.

“2019 was before the pandemic happened, so in 2020 that was the first year that covid hurt us that is when we started to see the numbers drop. You’re talking about highschools that were not in session. Even when they came back in not everybody was having a blood drive.”

In a release from the Blood Bank of Delmarva they say that youth donations previously accounted for 25% of their blood supply, however they now only contribute around 10% nationally.

The Blood bank is asking for community members assistance so that they may continue to help supply hospitals with blood during emergencies.

You can view more on donor eligibility and guidelines by visiting the Blood Bank of Delmarva’s website.