https://www.loom.com/share/f2aa005d1d754e29a4bd7fc57dd91b50
We are currently in a blood shortage. Online, many sources say that the lack of donors is the main problem. However, the main contributor to the blood shortage is not actually a lack of donor contributions, but instead is an issue with supply chain management. Obstacles within supply chain management such as the absence of checkpoints for monitoring the condition of the blood throughout its transportation along with poor storage have led to blood expiry and wastage.
Another reason why blood wastage persists is due to a lack of transparency from blood donation agencies in relation to obstacles they face with logistics; it is easier for these agencies to ask people to donate more blood to meet patient demand than to solve the logistical issue **and to address the blood wastage issue.
We have an adequate blood supply based on donations as this would, in theory, leave over a 100,000 pint surplus given a 2.7 pint average transfusion. However, 1.3 million pints of blood are wasted per year, leading to the blood shortage that we constantly hear about with people not getting the blood transfusions they need as quickly as possible. There is a massive loss of blood between the point when blood is donated and when the hospital receives the blood, due to the blood expiration during transportation.
Why this matters: of the 1.3 million pints of blood lost, 88% of it is caused by blood expiration, and 10% of that blood expiration is due to poor transportation. By solving the inefficiencies within the blood transportation chain that cause expiration, 114,000 pints of blood can be saved per year, decreasing the weight of the shortage and allowing another 42,259 people to receive the blood they require per year.
Our team talked to three separate Red Cross representatives in order to better understand how blood gets from the blood donation centres to hospitals. All three confirmed that blood was only tested at the blood bank, then sent out in temperature controlled vehicles. They all confirmed that the blood was not checked again after initial testing. Between the donation and transfusion, the blood is transferred between multiple actors and locations: