Blood supply in Jakson is so low one patient had to be transported to another hospital

JACKSON, TN (WNBJ)-

You’ve probably heard the desperate pleas from lifeline blood services over the last couple months but not the blood situation is worse than ever. Early this morning a patient had to be transferred from the ER in Madison County due to the lack of blood.

“It’s never as high as we want but typically, we are able to get by, but this is a dire shortage right now that’s threatening people’s lives," said Dr. Dean Currie, Chief Surgical Officer for West Tennessee Healthcare.

Dr. Currie says that the hospitals in west Tennessee are dangerously low on the blood products they need to save lives,

“This morning we had to send a patient out of or emergency room who needed blood, but we did not have products to give to them to sustain their life.”

The blood shortage could cause a pause of all elective surgeries, but this problem isn’t just at West Tennessee Healthcare. Lifeline blood services supplies blood for 17 hospitals across West Tennessee,

“Every one of those right now has at best half of what they would like to have, most have less than half on the shelves," said Caitlin Roach of Lifeline.

If a hospital in lifelines area does not have the blood at patient needs, they may have to be moved to a hospital in Memphis or Nashville.

Caitlin Roach says donating blood so the hospitals have enough blood to treat their patients could save lives, “You’re going to save a life, how cool is that? I can’t do much else at zero cost to myself that’s that impactful.”

Dr. Currie urges everyone to donate to save lives, "Your friends and your neighbors’ lives depend on it.”

You can donate blood at Lifeline Monday through Saturday