Hospital Alliance Battles Blood Shortage Crisis

Southern California hospitals are in urgent need of blood as low supplies threaten surgeries and the health of patients. The Southern California Hospital Recruitment Alliance (SCHRA) urges all eligible blood donors in the region to donate blood at their local hospital.

Donating blood is one of the fastest, safest and most selfless means to help and protect a family member, friend or neighbor, said SCHRA Spokesperson Tim Smith, who is the blood donor recruitment coordinator for the Ralph M. Parsons Blood Donor Center at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank and the Providence Blood Donor Center at Providence Holy Cross in Mission Hills. This simple act of generosity will quite literally save lives. 

If more donors in our communities do not come forward, there is a real danger that blood will not be available to someone who needs it, Smith said. The simple assumption that there will be enough blood available for accident victims, cancer and surgical patients, women giving birth and all the others for whom a blood transfusion means the chance between life and death may soon turn out to be false.

According to the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB), every three seconds someone needs blood, and each day, patients across the country receive approximately 38,000 units of blood. This year alone, as many as four million patients will require blood transfusions. These patients include accident victims, people undergoing surgery, and patients receiving treatment for leukemia, cancer and other diseases. 

Southern Californians donate less blood than any other region in the country. Only 3 percent of the eligible population donate, which is far below the national average. If everyone who was eligible to donate would do so twice a year, shortages would be a thing of the past. 

Blood donations are decreasing by about 1 percent a year while the demand for blood is increasing by 1 percent a year. The inventory continues to drop due to several factors, including holiday travel, breaks from school, extreme weather conditions nationwide and a decline in sponsor-scheduled blood drives. 

Individuals are asked to support their local blood centers by making and keeping an appointment to donate immediately. If supplies are not replenished, surgeries will continue to be cancelled and patient care may be compromised. The need for blood varies; it may take just 6 pints of blood to survive heart surgery, but a car crash victim may need 50 pints.

Formed in November of 1997, the SCHRA is committed to working cooperatively towards education, promotion, and acquisition of a safe and adequate blood supply. The blood donor recruiters from the member hospitals combine their efforts in sharing resources and ideas to better meet the needs of the communities they serve. Blood donated at a local hospital remains in the community where it was donated.

People may donate at any one of the following SCHRA hospitals: 
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, City of Hope, Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, Huntington Memorial, Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles, Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, Saint John’s Hospital, Sherman Oaks Hospital & Health Center, UCLA Medical Center

To donate or for more information call
(800) 469-9555