ST. LOUIS — The American Red Cross said there's a blood shortage of 30,000 units and platelets, which is equivalent to what 15,000 people would donate in blood.
The factors for the shortage include natural disasters such as Hurricane Idalia, summer travel and the need for blood during summer holidays.
The American Red Cross has a manufacturing and testing lab in St. Louis and they said the shortage is also a local issue. Its blood supply is currently at 34% but is usually nearly 90%. These numbers mean empty shelves for local hospitals.
"Eighteen months ago was the last time we saw our shelves at this level or even worse. That was in due to large part to the pandemic," Beth Elders, executive director of the American Red Cross of Greater St. Louis, said.
Elders said hospitals couldn't get the blood they needed and doctors had to stop elective surgeries.
Elders said the St. Louis manufacturing lab is just one of 23 in the entire country and it's the only location for the American Red Cross that has blood testing in the same building. The lab not only supplies most of its blood to Barnes Jewish Hospital but also ships to neighboring states.
Hurricane Idalia strained the supply when dozens of blood drives were canceled.
"The individuals who were impacted by Hurricane Idalia might not have gone out to give blood which then impacts that broader blood supply," Elders said.
Elders said there is currently an emergency need for Type O and platelet donors.
"Right now, we're really looking for O-positive and O-negative [blood types] plus all of our negatives ... A-negative and B-negative [blood types] as well," Elders said.
The problem is that blood distribution to hospitals and cities is outpacing the number of blood donations.
"Everybody's blood makes a difference, everybody's blood is what's needed," Elders said.
From Sept. 1-18, people who donate will receive a Red Cross T-shirt, a free haircut from Sports Clips Haircuts and automatically enter to win VIP NASCAR racing tickets.