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Blood has been identified as a critical national resource. Blood is essential during treatment for trauma and to meet the chronic needs of over 5,000 U.S. patients a day. In the U.S., blood is typically collected, processed, and stored at regional not-for-profit blood centers and is distributed to community hospitals on a daily basis.
Are there blood shortages? Yes, but…
- They are short in duration, are local/regional and/or seasonal
- All Hazards (disasters usually do not require a large amount of blood)
In some cases, the blood center may be located away from the hospital it supplies, which impacts the normal distribution of blood products (e.g., road damage, power outage, communication outage).
Our attention must be to maintain an adequate blood supply that can be delivered to patients in all affected disaster areas.
Cascade Regional Blood Services provides the blood needs of patients in our community first. Blood is shared with others only after local needs are met. As stewards of this life-saving resource, we are responsible for managing donations so they benefit someone, somewhere.
Resource Sharing is a cooperative effort among independent blood centers designed to meet changing needs and address temporary blood shortages around the country.
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