As the year goes on, there is still a persistent need for blood donors.
The American Red Cross says that a decline in overall donations has led to the blood supply shrinking nearly 20% in recent weeks. A major need for Type-O negative blood donors have also been reported.
Doctors from Mercy Health St. Rita's say that while they have a good supply of blood for patients, it is possible that they can be affected by the overall shortage if donors do not increase, meaning some patients may need to wait to receive blood.
"Not only will we be unable to take care of any sort of traumas that may happen or patients that are receiving chemotherapy, or who are on certain transfusion regiments as part of their care -- for instance cancer -- they wouldn't be able to get that," said Dr. Patrick Feasel, a Pathologist. "It is always important to donate blood so that we can keep our inventory good, so with the 20% decline in donations this month, we are heading in the wrong direction and we can really easily run into a shortage."
