Blood collections have jumped since the American Red Cross announced a national shortage Monday and appealed to potential donors, but the shortage is so deep that it would take weeks of above-average collections to return the supply to normal, said a local Red Cross official.
Donations since the appeal began have hit 110 percent of the goal each day, said Sherry Mitchell, director of blood services for the group's Triangle chapter.
It will take a long stretch of above-normal collections, though, to erase a shortfall in May and June that hit the lowest level the national Red Cross had seen in more than 12 years.
The Red Cross must pull in 1,600 pints a day to serve 103 hospitals in North Carolina and small parts of Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina, and it's a challenge even in good times, Mitchell said.
Part of the reason is simply seasonal, she said, with potential donors on vacation. But in addition to that, large companies the Red Cross had long relied on for on-site blood drives have reduced the ranks of employees so much that it has cut into donations.
"So when we do these traditional drives that used to be huge, there are less and less employees, and in some cases we're hearing that some of those left are doing multiple jobs and just can't take the time off to give blood," she said.
One event that will help, she said, is a new 1,000-pint, one-day drive at N.C. State University scheduled for Aug. 19.
"But we've still got a lot of summer left," she said. "Then there's Labor Day, so it's going to be tough."
