Berkshire Health System Blood Program Helps Shield County From National Shortage
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The American Red Cross declared its second national blood supply crisis in its history on Monday, but community members can breathe easy thanks to Berkshire Health System's blood donor program.
Berkshire Medical System has always had a stationary donor center for autologous donations, which is no longer common practice, and had some O-negative blood on hand that it purchased from the Red Cross prior to having its own blood donor program, said Christine Amuso, blood donor coordinator.
Today, Berkshire Health System's blood donor program collects about 2,300 to 2,400 units of blood annually, all of which stays within Berkshire County to help keep local blood supplies stocked.
In some years, the program has reached record collections of about 3,000 units.
"That [record has] only happened a couple of times since I've been employed with the program. So, we really have done wonders with the program," Amuso said.
Donating blood through Berkshire Health System's program is accessible, with a donor center at the main campus and a mobile blood unit that travels throughout Berkshire County, including select Saturdays.
While appointments for blood donations are strongly encouraged, staff also intentionally leave scheduling gaps to accommodate additional donors who walk in without an appointment.
The bloodmobile schedule can be found here. Make an appointment to donate blood by calling 413-447-2597 or emailing Amuso at camuso@bhs1.org.
"We've done a lot of things to improve our processes and people notice these changes as far as going to different sites that provide a lot of donations, like we go to a lot of businesses," Amuso said.
Berkshire Medical System has about 2,300 regular donors who can donate up to six times a year, depending on eligibility.
"[The donating centers are] so friendly and it just welcomes people, and they know that they're appreciated … They come aboard because they know our staff and they're happy to be there, and it's always a positive experience," Amuso said.
"...I just want the donors locally to know how much we appreciate their support continually over years and years and years."
Berkshire County uses around 2500 pints of blood a year for emergent and regular procedures, between Fairview Hospital, the main campus in Pittsfield, and the North Adams campus. … said.
"So, we're doing a big portion of what we need for the community," she said.
Many years ago, Berkshire Medical staff were "terrified" of a blood shortage, so 18 years ago, the blood program was launched to help ensure they consistently had a reliable local supply, Amuso said.
"We can cover ourselves with our own [blood supply] so our needs aren't what they used to be for our own community," she said.
The amount of blood Berkshire Health System receives from the Red Cross varies depending on trauma cases and the need for specific blood types or antibodies and available inventory. If the health system does not have the required units, it obtains them from the Red Cross.
Berkshire Health System's need for blood from the Red Cross varies based on trauma cases, specific blood type and antibody needs, and available inventory. When needed, the system purchases additional units from the Red Cross, averaging about 100 to 500 units annually, Amuso said.
"The hope for the future is to continue providing enough blood for the community to keep us in the safe zone without having to worry about whether we can get it from the Red Cross or not. That is our particular goal," she said
Hospitals throughout the country purchase blood from the Red Cross, which according to its website, collects nearly 4.5 million blood donations and more than 1 million platelets from more than 2.3 million volunteer donors.
Despite thousands of people donating, blood supplies are not keeping pace with hospital demand, which rises during the summer trauma season, the American Red Cross website said.
Extreme heat, poor air quality and illness have contributed to lower donor turnout, further straining the American Red Cross' supply.
"As the nation's largest single provider of blood products, the Red Cross now has less than a one-day national supply of type O positive blood — the most commonly transfused blood type," the press release said.
"To help ensure blood is available for patients facing the most critical, life-threatening emergencies across the country, the Red Cross has begun limiting distributions of type O blood to individual hospitals."
Tags: BHS, BMC, Red Cross,
