STROUDSBURG, MONROE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — In the midst of winter and more to come icy conditions and snow have impacted blood resources across the nation.
Every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood.
While the American Red Cross holds drive across the country all year round. Seasons like the winter, especially this year, have been challenging.
“We have snow, we have ice, we have freezing rain. In other areas you have major catastrophes like the wildfires and things like that, so with that are always cancellations of blood drives.”
Sherry Nealon-Shrive is the Executive Director of the NEPA Chapter of the Red Cross.
She says they’re seeing a higher drop in donations than previous years due to snowstorms and catastrophic events taking place.
“We know now, after that, we have over 20,000 people who were donors and didn’t donate this year.”
Just last summer the Red Cross declared an emergency shortage, stating they’ve seen the fewest number of donors in the past two decades.
Nealon-shrive says it’s hard to gauge the need in the colder months.
“It’s the people that get the flu, it’s the people that had something at their house and their power was out so they couldn’t make their appointment. It’s those people that are the problem when we’re looking at how to decide on how much we need.”
That’s why they’re asking for anyone to donate, to help save lives.
“We are the people who collect 40 percent of the blood and we are the only ones who can distribute the blood across state lines. So if someone is in need in an area, and the blood supply is not there, we’re the only ones that can get it there.”
The Red Cross has an app where you can book an appointment to donate blood or platelets, and follow its journey to the hospital it’s sent to.