Published by Kirby Winn on Wednesday, January 19, 2022 in Blog
Blood providers across the United States, including ImpactLife, are facing serious challenges to the blood supply. (See statement from our national umbrella organization, America’s Blood Centers: Blood Donors Urgently Needed During National Blood Donor Month and Throughout the Winter.)
ImpactLife is the blood provider for 125 hospitals in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin. We seek 3600 donations per week to optimally meet the needs of the hospitals we serve. Over the last month, however, the donation rate has ranged from 2500 to 2800 donations per week. Key factors influencing the downturn in donations:
- Ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic + cold and flu season (more people experiencing symptoms or waiting out a temporary quarantine due to known exposure to COVID-19)
- Winter storms and extreme cold in parts of our service region (snow, ice, and cold temps diminish our appointment “show rate”)
- Christmas and New Year’s holidays (we collect donations every day of the week, but lose a significant number of donations having two holidays just a week apart)
Blood products are perishable and must be used for transfusion within a short window of time (for red blood cells, that’s 42 days after donation). We strive to keep a 5-day supply in our inventories to meet anticipated and unanticipated needs. Currently most blood products and types are less than 3-day supply. The most critical products of Type O, Type AB and all types of platelets are only 1-2 days supply. While we have seen a positive response to our donor outreach in recent days, it will take a sustained period (weeks) of strong collections to build our inventories back to where we need them to be.
To schedule an appointment for donation: