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Community Corner

Blood Supply At Lowest Levels in 10 Years

The severe winter weather has caused several thousands of donation cancellations, resulting in a very low blood supply.

The American Red Cross reports that it has canceled more than 30,000 blood and platelet collections since Jan. 1 because of severe winter weather across the country.

Of those canceled collections, 2,535 were to be held in Connecticut.

The cancellations have taken a toll on the blood supply, which is at the lowest level for January  that the American Red Cross has seen in 10 years, according to Elaine St. Peter, communications program manager for the American Red Cross - Connecticut Blood Services Region. 

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Many of the blood drives that were canceled had been scheduled for local schools. So it was significant that East Granby High School managed to hold a blood drive  Thursday. 

“The weather caused the cancellation of many school blood drives,” St. Peter said Thursday afternoon. “The weather made it difficult to recover once the appeal started, but now that the weather is better, we’re now seeing progress. “

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On Monday, Jan. 31, the American Red Cross - Connecticut Blood Services Region announced a two-week appeal statewide for blood donors, culminating on Feb. 15. The goal is 6,250 donations to help replenish the supply of blood. The appeal across the state was put out after a national appeal announced on Monday, Jan. 24. 

St. Peter said when the call was first put out for people to come forth and donate, the weather was still a factor and therefore people were not able to donate easily. She said the American Red Cross urged people to wait to donate until it was safe to do so and the weather improved. 

On the first day of the appeal in Connecticut, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy donated blood at the University of Connecticut Law School in Hartford. He urged Connecticut residents to do their part as well and to donate.

“I’m happy to help draw attention to this critical situation and donate blood to help those in Connecticut who need it most,” Malloy said in a Jan. 31 press release.  “The winter weather has been relentless in Connecticut, and hardly a week has gone by without a significant storm. But that makes donating blood and helping our state’s Red Cross even more important. I’m urging all those who can give blood to please do so as soon as possible.” 

In the United States, every two seconds a patient needs a blood transfusion. But blood is perishable and the supply must be replenished continuously through local blood drives like the one held in East Granby this week. The shelf life of red blood cells is only 42 days, and it's much shorter for platelets, according to the American Red Cross. 

The blood and platelets collected through the drives can be used in a variety of ways to help people with medical needs — for organ transplants, premature babies, patients receiving care for cancer or other diseases, heart surgery patients and trauma victims. 

More information on donating blood and local drives across the state is available on the American Red Cross Web site.

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