Beyond COVID-19 and lessons learned in the United States

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic severely tested the resilience of the US blood supply with wild fluctuations in blood donation and utilisation rates as community donation opportunities ebbed and hospitals post-poned elective surgery. Key stakeholders in transfusion services, blood centres, supply chains and manufacturers reviewed their experiences during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic as well as available literature to describe successes, opportunities for improvement and lessons learned. The blood community found itself in uncharted territory responding to restriction of its access to donors (approximately 20% decrease) and some supplies; environmental adjustments to address staff and donor concerns about coronavirus transmission; and the development of a new product (COVID-19 convalescent plasma [CCP]). In assuring that the needs of the patients were paramount, the donation process was safe, that clinicians had access to CCP, and vendor relationships aligned, the blood banking community relearned its primary focus: improving patient outcomes.

FIGURE 1

Mean daily donations were significantly increased from 2759 daily prior to implementation of anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 testing for all donors to 3476 post‐implementation (p = 0.001). (Provided by Kelly Counts‐OneBlood).

FIGURE 2

The change comparison of demand to pre‐COVID demand was calculated by comparing the same day demand to the previous four same day pre‐COVID averages (purple line). The leading demand indictor was calculated by comparing the current demand to the four previous same day demand averages (blue line). The combination of these two metrics is beneficial because it allows for sensitive understanding of the sifts in demand relative to the demand decrease caused by COVID. (Provided by Kelly Counts‐OneBlood).

FIGURE 3

An example of real time data availability and agile data management highlight tools and approaches needed for robust pandemic and disaster preparedness responses. (Provided by author D. S.).

FIGURE 4

Example of a dashboard provided by BI. It displays blood products available in inventory and those distributed. The top half is a breakdown by week and the bottom is by month. (Provided by author D. S.).