TOLEDO, Ohio — The American Red Cross is asking for blood donations as northwest Ohio prepares for a winter storm later this week.
On top of managing COVID-19 concerns, many blood drives across the country have also been canceled this year due to winter weather issues.
"Winter weather is one of the many factors that is causing this national blood crisis," said Jim Mcintyre with the American Red Cross.
The Red Cross declared a national blood crisis on January 11th. Since then representatives said there has been a significant response from the public when it comes to donating blood.
Typically the Red Cross aims to have at least a 5 day supply of all types of blood to meet the needs of patients. However, in recent weeks they have had less than a day of critical types of blood.
Around this time of year, especially in northern parts of the country, scheduling blood drives can get tricky because of the weather. And right now the Red Cross is preparing for that to potentially happen this week.
"There has been a significant reduction in the number of drives we’ve been able to schedule on college campuses and high schools, more than 60% drop since the beginning of the pandemic," said Mcintyre.
You can make an appointment to donate on the American Red Cross website.