HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) -- State officials are very concerned about the blood supply, or rather, the lack of a blood supply.
"We need a lot of blood supply right now because we are really quite low," said Denise Johnson, a Pennsylvania physician general. "Many schools and workplaces have students and staff that are out sick and they have had to abruptly cancel blood drives and haven't been able to reschedule."
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The Central Pennsylvania Blood Bank needs 250 pints a day and in January, donations were a slow drip. "We may have been seeing about 120 [pints]," said Patrick Bradley, Central PA Blood Bank.
But hearing from officials asking Pennsylvanians to give is not nearly as powerful as hearing from the patients who receive the donated blood. "I am so grateful, so grateful to the blood bank," said Jeannie Goldstein, a leukemia survivor.
Goldstein was diagnosed with leukemia less than a year ago and has spent weeks in the hospital. "Chemo kills everything. It kills good blood cells and it depletes your blood supply. I needed blood support."
Before Goldstein could ring the bell signifying her final chemo treatment, she needed 30 blood transfusions and was acutely aware supplies were running low.
"Even when I was in the hospital I only got half a dose because of the shortage and you're in a hospital, they're supposed to take care of you. They should have everything," Goldstein said.
The giving is easy and could be done on a lunch break, but only 5% of those eligible bother to do so. As I learned from first-hand experience, it is easy, doesn't hurt, takes about half an hour, and one bag of blood can save three lives.
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