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Review
. 2023 Jul-Dec;16(7):501-514.
doi: 10.1080/17474086.2023.2209716. Epub 2023 May 9.

Managing blood supplies during natural disasters, humanitarian emergencies, and pandemics: lessons learned from COVID-19

Tayler A Van Denakker  1 , Arwa Z Al-Riyami  2 , Rita Feghali  3 , Richard Gammon  4 , Cynthia So-Osman  5 , Elizabeth P Crowe  1 , Ruchika Goel  1   6 , Herleen Rai  1 , Aaron A R Tobian  1 , Evan M Bloch  1
Affiliations
Review

Managing blood supplies during natural disasters, humanitarian emergencies, and pandemics: lessons learned from COVID-19

Tayler A Van Denakker et al. Expert Rev Hematol. 2023 Jul-Dec.

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a historic public health crisis with widespread social and economic ramifications. The pandemic has also affected the blood supply, resulting in unprecedented and sustained blood shortages.

Areas covered: This review describes the challenges of maintaining a safe and sufficient blood supply in the wake of natural disasters, humanitarian emergencies, and pandemics. The challenges, which are accentuated in low- and high-income countries, span the impact on human capacity (affecting blood donors and blood collections personnel alike), disruption to supply chains, and economic sustainability. COVID-19 imparted lessons on how to offset these challenges, which may be applied to future pandemics and public health crises.

Expert opinion: Pandemic emergency preparedness plans should be implemented or revised by blood centers and hospitals to lessen the impact to the blood supply. Comprehensive planning should address the timely assessment of risk to the blood supply, rapid donor recruitment, and communication of need, measures to preserve safety for donors and operational staff, careful blood management, and resource sharing.

Keywords: Blood donation; Blood transfusion; COVID; Disaster planning; Public health.

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Conflict of interest statement

EM Bloch reports personal fees and non-financial support from Tegus and UpToDate, outside of the submitted work. EM Bloch is a member of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Blood Products Advisory Committee. Any views or opinions that are expressed in this manuscript are those of the author’s, based on his own scientific expertise and professional judgment; they do not necessarily represent the views of either the Blood Products Advisory Committee or the formal position of FDA, and do not bind or otherwise obligate or commit either Advisory Committee or the Agency to the views expressed.

The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

References

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