Ruth Ann Burns led an active lifestyle with no health problems, until her life was turned upside down by a diagnosis in June 2021: acute myeloblastic leukemia, an aggressive blood cancer.
Since then, the 77-year-old has seen firsthand the impacts of a drop in blood donations at the state and national levels caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Sometimes I was in the chair waiting 6 hours, 7 hours, 8 hours, before they could find blood,” Ruth Ann told New Jersey 101.5. “A couple of times they had to send me home because they didn’t have my blood type…and I had to come back the next day.”
At the start of her cancer journey, the Monmouth Junction resident needed three blood transfusions a week. His blood type is A negative, and only 1 in 16 people have A negative blood, according to the American Red Cross.
Ruth Ann says she “felt the shortage” more in the fall. At one point, he reached out to his network at Rutgers University, his alma mater, for blood donations, and the community banded together to get him the supply he needed.
Blood collection in New Jersey is down more than 25% since late summer due to ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on donation rates, according to RWJBarnabas Health.
Sally Wells, blood services business development liaison for Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, said there was an increase in donations during 2021, but another increase in cases forced the cancellation of many blood drives, especially in high schools. and universities.
“A lot of these schools haven’t had blood drives since the beginning of 2020 and now losing them again has been pretty devastating,” Wells said. “Continued attention to omicron and ongoing concern about how easily it spreads is causing a great deal of reluctance from donors to make appointments.”
RWJBarnabas Health is allowing blood drives at its hospital facilities and allowing community participation, even though visitor policies have changed.
The American Red Cross, which supplies 40% of the country’s blood supply, says it faces a “national blood crisis.” There has been a 10% drop in collection since March 2020, and some hospitals may not receive a quarter of the blood products they need. You can visit here to make a blood donation appointment with the Red Cross.
Ruth Ann is in partial remission today. She says she needs blood transfusions about once a month, and regularly worries about whether or not blood will be available. For that reason, he asks New Jerseyans to be less hesitant to donate blood.
“It really is a great opportunity to do something positive and help someone, and it’s very safe,” he said.
According to the American Red Cross, every 2 seconds someone in the US needs blood or platelets for cancer treatment, childbirth, car accidents and other traumatic events. A donation can help save more than one life.
Contact reporter Dino Flammia at dino.flammia@townsquaremedia.com.
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