A blood shortage has been ongoing nationwide for the past two months, but we have reached an especially critical moment this week. This alert aims to notify the general medical staff about this red blood cell shortage that is affecting all hospitals. In this situation, the priority of the blood bank is to preserve and allocate red blood cell products to patients in the following order of need:

1) Massive transfusion protocol (code RBC)

2) Surgical patients

3) Oncology patients

Unfortunately, the problem is nationwide, and all hospitals are experiencing similar shortages; as such, it will be difficult to divert inventory from any of our blood suppliers. The American Red Cross has been unable to provide a timeline as to how long this shortage may last.

Patients who must undergo surgery should call the blood bank (#*1111) with advanced 24-hour notice of anticipated blood needs whenever possible. As a reminder, most red blood cell utilization guidelines recommend transfusion only when Hob concentration reaches <7g/dL.

If you have any questions, please reach out through the blood bank to Dr. Mark Boonyasmapant or Dr. Victor Lee, who can also be reached at (714) 446-7505.