EVANSVILLE — Evansville-area healthcare providers are facing a severe blood shortage and are desperate for donors.
Deaconess leadership is urging anyone healthy enough to donate blood to sign up for an appointment. Dr. James Porter, President of Deaconess Health System, estimated the hospital isn't far from exhausting its supply of several blood products.
"We're one or two massive transfusions away from not having anything left,"Porter said at a news conference Thursday. "The only way to do anything about that is through blood drives."
Porter called the blood shortage a "crisis" and said it was worse than anything local hospitals have experienced in more than a decade. With supplies getting dangerously low, a need for donors will be ongoing for the foreseeable future.
"It's going to take weeks or months if we're going to climb out of this," he said. "We really need people to get out and donate."
Among blood types, O-negative blood is particularly useful as it is the "universal donor" type that is most compatible with all other blood types. This becomes important in emergencies when there is no time to determine a patient's blood type before starting transfusion. The supply of O-positive blood is also critical, as the most common blood type. Nearly 40 percent of Americans have it.
More:Vanderburgh County seeing 500 COVID cases per day; deaths, hospitalizations not keeping pace
Dr. Brennan Fitzpatrick, Chief Medical Officer at Deaconess Women’s Hospital, said severe blood loss is the most common cause of death in childbirth. Fitzpatrick said the Women's Hospital commonly handles some of the most difficult pregnancies in the region and those mothers are typically at high risk for blood loss when they go into labor.
Blood transfusions are also critical for cancer patients who have had bone marrow damage because of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. These patients can not produce blood of their own. According to the American Red Cross, cancer patients account for about a quarter of the nation's transfused blood.
Theo Boots, Executive Director of Southwest Indiana Red Cross, said supply was down to just one day's worth, calling the current situation the worst she had seen in at least 10 years. Ideally, Boots said, there would be five days worth of blood — and blood products such as platelets or plasma — available to local hospitals.
Boots said when her own daughter went into labor two month early and the baby needed a blood transfusion, it was blood from the Red Cross that saved the child's life.
"She was surprised when I told her," Boots said. "I guess she assumed it was always there, but that's not how it works. The blood is only there because people donate, so we need all the healthy donors we can get."
More:Evansville, Henderson labor force: Needs seen in health care, driving, hospitality
Porter said that while many people dislike needles, the blood donation process is quick — it usually takes about 15 minutes — and almost totally painless.
"Please don't be afraid to give," he said. "You never know, it could be you or one of your loved ones who needs blood."
The best way to donate blood, Boots said, is to make an appointment by going to the American Red Cross website at americanredcross.org. About 80 percent of the blood taken by Red Cross comes from donations at community sites such as businesses, churches and schools, making it easy for someone to donate blood without needing to travel very far.
"It's an ongoing process," she said. "We have blood drives practically every day. If you go to the website or call that phone number, you should have no problem finding a site in your community."