Blood Assurance talks about the regional blood shortage

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Ahead of the weekend, Blood Assurance asked that regional hospitals that take blood from the blood bank pause and reschedule elective procedures until at least Wednesday, Jan. 24.

This is so the blood bank can replenish some of its supply in order to assist hospitals with catastrophic events where a great deal of blood is necessary.

Blood Assurance CEO J.B. Gaskins said this is so the supply can stay at a responsible level.

“We’re not getting the donations in the door that we needed. We actually even opened additional facilities over the weekend to try to rebound,” Gaskins said.

The regional shortage is part of a growing national trend – people are not donating blood like they used to. Therefore, it puts companies like Blood Assurance in the uncomfortable position of asking hospitals to keep their own supply in mind when operating like normal.

“We wanted to on the side of safety, elective surgeries not we don’t want, we didn’t want to take away from the other potential traumas that were coming up with these freezing cold record temperatures for us. So we did what we thought was the prudent thing to do, but it’s still up to the hospital. Whether they do that,” Gaskins said.

Gaskins also urged anyone to donate blood and donate often.