For the first time in its history, Lantana is organizing its own blood drive! Why now, you ask? Because there is a critical blood shortage nationwide. In January, the American Red Cross declared its first ever national blood crisis in the United States. Citing declines in the number of donors and blood drives due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Red Cross has announced that our nation currently has “less than a one-day supply of critical blood types” available for patients. This means that some hospitals are not getting the blood products they need, or not in the quantities needed, which in turn is causing healthcare providers to make difficult decisions about who receives blood products and who doesn’t. In fact, according to the Red Cross, someone in the U.S. needs blood every two seconds. Donating blood takes about an hour from start to finish, with the actual donation only taking an average of 8-10 minutes.