SAN ANTONIO — In the 35 years Dr. Joyce Schwartz has practiced pathology she’s never seen blood supply levels fall this low.
“This is the biggest crisis I’ve ever seen as far as blood shortages are concerned,” Dr. Schwartz said.
It’s why the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center wasted no time partnering with San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, and other local hospitals to call for the community to step up and fix this national issue.
“New donors and young donors are really key to having a sustainable blood supply,” Dr. Samantha Gomez Ngamsuntikul Associate Medical Director at the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center said.
They specifically spoke to San Antonio’s youth population. The blood bank says there has been a 60% drop in donations from donors aged 16 to 19, and a 30% drop in new donors altogether.
“If you go in the hospital and you are there for trauma care, surgery, pregnancy, or because you were in a car accident or something like that you might need a blood transfusion. So the blood crisis is impactful to our entire community and takes the entire community to sure up those supplies,” Mayor Nirenberg said.
With only about 2 days’ worth of a current blood supply health officials and hospitals say the time to act is now.
“It is a life and death situation. It might be your family member, your neighbor, who will live or die based on the blood donation,” Dr. Schwartz said.
There are tons of donations sites across the city you can donate at. To find a location near you go to their website.