Blood shortage concerns local hospitals

Over the holidays, many people made New Year's resolutions to help their fellow man. And local blood bank workers are praying that they will follow through. On Monday morning, elective surgery at local hospitals was banned, including the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The freeze was lifted yesterday morning as blood inventory began to rise. "As of Monday morning, we did not feel that the group O blood [supply] would support surgery safely," said Kathleen Glackin, interim principal officer of the Penn-Jersey Region of American Red Cross Blood Services. The Blood Center reported Monday that it had under 15 percent of type O positive and negative blood, types most commonly used in transfusions. Glackin added that the blood supply shortfall is part of a drain debilitating all of the Red Cross centers nation-wide, which supply over half of the nation's hospitals. "This is not sudden," said Red Cross spokesperson Susan Snyder. "At this time of year there is a general decline in donations." Snyder attributed the nation-wide fall off to the busy holiday season. She added that a local flu epidemic has reduced the number of eligible donors. A general increase in donations is usually expected shortly after the holidays. "The problem this year is that we didn't bounce back," Snyder said. Glackin said that if the shortage continued, the Red Cross would have to enforce tight controls on the inventory and possibly cancel surgeries. "We would not let hospitals rebuild their inventory in order to try and centralize the supply," Glackin said. But donations in the past few days have offered temporary relief. "When we get to the point where we must limit the hospitals on the blood we can provide, we must advise the public through the media," Snyder said. 3500 donors gave blood to the Red Cross over Tuesday and Wednesday, shortly after local media had publicized the inventory's critical condition. But the blood supply remains in danger, said HUP physician Leslie Silverstein. "As of today we are in the clear. [However] I encourage the student body to donate," Silverstein said. Rebecca Mison, a college recruiter for the Red Cross, noted that the University has fallen behind last year's donation levels.

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