Blood Bank of Delmarva reopens Salisbury location amid local blood shortage

SALISBURY, Md. – After a five-month hiatus, the Blood Bank of Delmarva opened its doors back to the public.

The good news is, the community has been showing support, filling donation slots for the next four weeks. But the bad news is, the blood bank is in a blood emergency.

The Blood Bank declared the emergency on Monday, saying they only have about 2 days’ worth of blood on hand for the 19 hospitals they serve on Delmarva. Communications specialist, Tony Prado said opening the doors back up was only half of the challenge. Now, they’re working to get people through them.

“You’re competing for people’s attention, their interest, it takes time, an hour, give or take, to give blood. We’re just trying to hustle,” said Prado.

And for many, it can be a too big of a commitment.

In the U.S., 62% of the population is eligible to donate blood, but only about 3% actually do, due to things like common misconceptions about eligibility, or being unaware of the need.

But vice president of blood bank operations, Keith Heim said to take that 2-day blood supply to 7-days’ worth, people have to be willing to learn about the process and roll up their sleeve.

“With everyone just taking this moment to join one of our mobiles or make an appointment at one of our sites, they can easily help us reverse this decline in inventory and be able to increase it,” said Heim.