Blood shortage hampers Philadelphia-area Red Cross

The Philadelphia-area chapter of the Red Cross says it is facing a worrisome blood-donation shortage similar to what has been reported nationally.

On average, donors give 4,000 units of blood each week at centers run by the American Red Cross Southeastern Pennsylvania, which also covers New Jersey and Delaware. But during Christmas week, donations fell 200 units below that level, and they fell short by 250 units the following week, said chapter spokeswoman Alana Mauger.

“So not only do we need to collect 4,000 units this week, but 450 extra units to try to make up those we didn’t collect,” she said. “We are currently sending blood out to hospitals faster than donations are coming in.”

In hospital-rich Philadelphia, such a shortage has the potential to be especially disruptive. Yet so far, officials at Temple Health and Jefferson Health said they were not seeing the effect of the shortfall.

Nationally, the Red Cross reported a blood-donation shortfall of nearly 7,000 units between Christmas and New Year’s Day. The nonprofit says that in the last 20 years, its number of blood donors has dropped by about 40%.

One longtime Philly-area donor who is no longer taking part is Upper Gwynedd resident Marc Satalof.

But no one could fault his dedication to the cause. In November, at age 76, he gave blood for the 280th time, reaching a lifetime total of 35 gallons.

Satalof decided to call it quits after that session, at a Red Cross blood drive at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine.

His hemoglobin levels have declined somewhat in recent years, so after consulting with his physician, he decided that 35 gallons was enough.

“I’m retiring,” he said at the time.

The Red Cross hopes that others will pick up the slack.