Suppliers warn of critical blood shortage, though L+M in good shape

The Day – Wednesday, July 15, 2026
By John Penney

New London — State and national agencies this week declared a “blood emergency” as supplies needed to meet routine and emergency patient needs have fallen to critical levels.

The Connecticut Blood Center (CTBC), the primary supplier of blood to more than a dozen Connecticut hospitals, on Monday said the region’s inventory had fallen to below the two-day supply mark.

A healthy blood supply can meet demand for between five and seven days. Individual units can be stored for 42 days.

CTBC officials attribute the shortage to a combination of fewer donations and increased need.

“School breaks, vacations, holiday travel and changing routines reduce donations while hospitals continue treating trauma patients, cancer patients, surgical patients and others who rely on blood every day,” the center said in a news release. “As hospitals enter the height of summer trauma season, the need for life-giving blood transfusions continues to grow.”

The lower inventory will result in less flexibility for hospitals to treat both routine and unexpected emergencies, the center said, adding that trauma patients alone may require dozens of units of blood within minutes.

Dr. Greg Makowski, vice president of clinical laboratory services for Hartford HealthCare, which includes Norwich’s Backus Hospital, said the recent July 4 holiday and extreme hot weather has exacerbated the need for blood.

“Summertime activities can lead to increased injuries and the potential need for blood,” Makowski said in a statement. “The universal donor type, O negative blood, has been especially impacted.”

L+M blood supply “not dire”

Nicole Muscato, director of Lawrence + Memorial Hospital’s blood bank, on Wednesday said the New London hospital’s supply is “a little low, but not terrible.”

The hospital typically stores, matches and distributes units of blood from an upper-floor lab. A certain amount of blood is also sent to its Waterford-based cancer treatment center.

The supply — which includes all types — is replenished as needed every day by the Red Cross.

“We’re a little below our normal amounts, but it’s not dire; we’re nowhere near the historic lows we saw during COVID-19,” Muscato said. “It’s the larger trauma centers that deal with a lot of major car accidents and other incidents, like in New Haven, that are bigger users of the blood supply.”

But the hospital is still alerting staff of the overall blood shortage.

“We take a conservative approach and want to be proactive,” she said. “That helps them plan for surgeries or other procedures and if something might get postponed.”

Muscato said appeals for blood donations, like the ones being made now, are usually successful.

“There’s usually a quick bounce-back, within a week or two, from when the appeals are made to when we start to see the distribution levels come back,” she said.

L+M is scheduled to host a blood drive on July 31 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. inside Baker Auditorium, located on its main campus at 365 Montauk Ave. Appointments can be made at redcrossblood.org, though walk-ins are welcome.

The local blood shortage is reflective of a larger national supply emergency. The American Red Cross on Monday said the national blood supply fell by 25% in June.

The group said its weekly distributions to hospitals were trending 3,500 units higher than expected and all blood types – especially types O positive, B negative and AB plasma – are needed.

“These shortages are kind of cyclical,” Muscato said. “We see issues during the summer and around Christmas, the times when schools — where most of the drives are held — are closed. And during the summer, when it’s nice out, is also when people might be out doing dangerous things.”

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