Memorial Blood Centers has declared a blood emergency following a period of low donor turnout due to holidays and school breaks. There is currently a 2-3-day supply of type O negative, as well as a critical shortage of platelets, but all donation types are needed.
 
Donations in recent weeks have been hundreds short of hospital need and are down by nearly 1,000 donations compared to this time last year. Additionally, we are still recovering from a nearly 50% decrease of youth and first-time blood donors since 2019, and working to rebuild donations from this population. At one time, youth donations represented 25% of our blood supply, but now only contribute about 10% of the country’s donations.