Thank you for pledging to give blood. Peraton and The American Red Cross thanks you for your donation. The American Red Cross is experiencing a severe blood shortage as the number of trauma cases, organ transplants and elective surgeries rise – and deplete the nation’s blood inventory.

• Today, there is great hospital demand for blood as patients who previously deferred care during the COVID-19 pandemic present with more advanced disease progression, therefore requiring increased blood transfusions.
• Hospitals are also responding to an atypically high number of traumas and emergency room visits, as well as overdoses and resulting transplants. In comparison to 2019, the Red Cross has seen red cell demand from trauma centers climb by 10% in 2021 – more than five times the growth of other facilities that provide transfusions.
• Twenty to 40% of trauma deaths that occur after hospital admission involve massive hemorrhaging, and doctors need a secure blood supply to fight the odds. To save a life in these dire circumstances, hospitals may need hundreds of blood products depending on the severity of the trauma.
• Unfortunately, as a result of this shortage, some hospitals are being forced to slow the pace of elective surgeries until the blood supply stabilizes, delaying crucial patient care.

The Red Cross is working around the clock to meet the extraordinary blood needs of hospitals and patients but can’t do it alone. Please schedule an appointment to give blood between July 1-23. If you are unable to give blood but would like to make a monetary donation, please visit https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/peraton-emp.html/