BOSTON (WHDH) - Officials are calling on residents to donate blood amid a critical blood shortage affecting the Kraft Family Blood Donor Center located at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham & Women’s Hospital.
The shortage is threatening to impact care of patients with cancer and other serious illnesses. Stephanie Ferrara, nurse director of the Kraft Family Blood Donor Center, says she has not experienced such a serious shortage outside a trauma event.
This pressure on the Kraft Center is due to the national collection shortage of over 12,000 units of red blood cells and 700 units of platelets resulting from storm-related blood drive closures and flight disruptions. Patients with cancer and other illnesses often require transfusions of healthy platelets which act as the body’s bandages, allowing blood to clot and wounds to heal.
The need for donations is ongoing since platelets—which cannot be manufactured—have a shelf life of just five days.
HOW TO HELP: https://www.brighamandwomens.org/patients-and-families/blood-donation/blood-donation-center
(Copyright (c) 2025 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)