Vitalant Declares a Critical Blood Shortage on World Blood Donor Day, Urges Donations

Nonprofit blood services provider Vitalant is alerting the public today – World Blood Donor Day – to help reverse a critical blood shortage by making an appointment to give in the coming days and weeks. Donors of all blood types are needed.

With the number of new donors down sharply by 12% year over year, new donors and those that haven’t given in a while are especially needed. Thousands of appointments over the next few weeks remain unfilled across the 28 states Vitalant serves. There is a critical need for donors with the most transfused blood type O, which has recently dipped to about half of the desired four-day supply, and platelet donors, whose donations must be used within a week of donation.

“Every time you donate you help ensure a patient’s lifesaving treatment doesn’t have to be put on hold,” said Vitalant Chief Medical and Scientific Officer Dr. Ralph Vassallo. “When patient needs consistently outpace donors scheduling appointments, chances are higher a leukemia patient won’t be able to get their regular transfusion, or a transplant recipient will have their surgery delayed. ”

In April and May, Vitalant collected about 13,000 fewer blood donations compared to the year prior. If AAA Memorial Day travel forecasts were any indication, rebounding to 92% of pre-pandemic levels, as schools let out for the summer, the number of available donors could drop even lower in the coming weeks. 

“When there’s a high-profile emergency, people will drop what they’re doing to donate,” said Cliff Numark, Vitalant senior vice president. “But there are many reasons patients need transfusions – which don’t grab news headlines. Certainly, it’s the blood already on the shelves that helps patients when tragedy strikes – but an adequate supply also has to be ready to provide for the individual needs of patients that arise every day, the cancer treatment, the accident victim, the transplant patient. Making an appointment to donate tomorrow or next week, will help ensure those needs can be met.”

In addition to helping patients, new blood donors can learn their preliminary blood type during their first visit. * Other added benefits of donating blood are a mini-physical and full panel of tests each donor receives. The mini-physical check of pulse, blood pressure, hemoglobin and cholesterol can be tracked with each visit in the donor’s secure and confidential online account. Through June 17, Vitalant is testing all donations for COVID-19 antibodies to produce plasma that could help COVID-19 patients with weakened immune systems.

Appointments are encouraged. Please visit vitalant.org, download and use the Vitalant app** or call 877-25-VITAL (877-258-4825) to secure your spot to save lives.

About World Blood Donor Day

Established by the World Health Organization, World Blood Donor Day is recognized each year on June 14 to raise awareness of the need for a safe and readily available blood supply. For 2022, the theme is solidarity, drawing attention to the role that donations play in saving lives and enhancing solidarity within communities. 

About Vitalant

Vitalant (“Vye-TAL-ent”) is the nation’s largest independent, nonprofit blood services provider exclusively focused on providing lifesaving blood and comprehensive transfusion medicine services for about 900 hospitals and their patients across the U. S. Every day, Vitalant needs to collect nearly 5,000 blood, platelet and plasma donations to help save lives. For more information and to schedule a donation appointment, visit vitalant.org or call 877-25-VITAL (877-258-4825). Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

*Not available in Nevada due to state restrictions.

**Not available in New Jersey, Ohio or Pennsylvania at this time.

Fresenius Crit-Line III Blood HCT Hematocrit Level Monitor

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Crit-Line III

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Crit-Line III TQA

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Fresenius Crit-Line III Blood HCT Hematocrit Level Monitor

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Critical values ​​

Critical values ​​

A strong deviation of some laboratory parameters from the reference values ​​in one direction or another can lead to serious consequences for the patient, including threatening his life. Such values ​​of laboratory indicators are called critical. Laboratories are required to inform their patients and their physicians of such results immediately. Helix Laboratory Services has adopted a list of critical values ​​given in the table below. In the event of a critical value of a laboratory indicator, Helix specialists contact the patient or his doctor as soon as possible and inform about the results of the analysis.

INR, test for INR, prothrombin

Method of determination
Coagulometry (Quick calculation). Technology for the study of prothrombin (and INR).

Test material
Plasma (citrate)

Home visit available

Online check-in

Synonyms: Blood test for prothrombin; Prothrombin; prothrombin time; prothrombin index; International normalized ratio; INR; Blood clotting factor II. Prothrombin; PT; Protime; INR; international normalized ratio; Coagulation Factor II; FII.

Study summary Prothrombin, INR (prothrombin time)

Coagulation test that determines the clotting time of a patient’s blood plasma after adding a mixture of tissue thromboplastin and calcium to it. Determination of prothrombin time (PT) with the calculation of prothrombin according to Quick is a method for assessing the deficiency of prothrombin complex factors and the activity of the external pathway of blood coagulation. The test results, with a normal content and quality of fibrinogen, depend on the content of factors II, V, VII, X (the activity of prothrombin complex factors). The formation of the main factors of the prothrombin complex occurs in the liver, so this test is often used to assess the protein-synthesizing function of the liver. The synthesis of these coagulation factors depends on the presence of vitamin K in the body, the antagonists of which are indirect anticoagulants or indirect anticoagulants (AND), so the prothrombin test is used to monitor therapy with indirect anticoagulants. The most commonly used AEDs are 4-hydroxycoumarin derivatives – monocoumarols (phenprocoumarol, acenocoumarol), among which warfarin (Warfarin, synonyms: Aldocumar, Athrombin-K1, Cofarin, Coumadin, Coumadine, Cumatox, Omefin, Orfarin, Marevan, Panwarfin, Prothromadin, Warfilone, Warnerin).

What is the purpose of a blood test for Prothrombin, INR (prothrombin time)?

Forms for presenting test results Prothrombin, INR (prothrombin time)

Prothrombin test results can be presented in various forms (the first two options, Quick prothrombin and INR (INR), are used in the INVITRO laboratory):

1. Prothrombin according to Quick (content of prothrombin complex factors in % of normal) allows you to determine the activity of the factors of the prothrombin complex of the patient’s plasma in comparison with the measured prothrombin time of the calibration plasma. In this case, the calculation is carried out according to the curve of dependence of prothrombin time on the % content of factors of the prothrombin complex, built using several dilutions of calibration plasma. This way of presenting the results is more accurate than the calculation of the prothrombin index (see below), especially in the low range. Quick prothrombin and prothrombin index may coincide with each other in the range of normal values. In the zone of low values ​​recommended for the management of patients taking indirect anticoagulants, the indicators of these tests diverge. A prothrombin index of 50-60% may correspond to 20-40% prothrombin according to Quick. Therefore, when monitoring anticoagulant therapy, studies should be performed by one method, preferably in the same laboratory. The calculation of prothrombin according to Quick is currently the generally accepted method.

2. INR (International Normalized Ratio) or INR (International Normalized Ratio) is an additional method for reporting prothrombin test results recommended for monitoring indirect anticoagulant therapy by a committee of experts from WHO, the International Committee for the Study of Thrombosis and Hemostasis and the International Committee for Standardization in Hematology. The INR is defined as the prothrombin ratio (PR), i.e. the ratio of the PV of the test sample to the PV of normal plasma, obtained using the primary international reference thromboplastin. To compare the results obtained using other thromboplastins, it is necessary to know the International Sensitivity Index (MIS) of this thromboplastin. INR is calculated by the formula:

   where ISI (International Sensitivity Index of thromboplastin) or MIC is an indicator of thromboplastin sensitivity to a decrease in the concentration of prothrombin complex factors relative to the international thromboplastin standard. INR is a mathematical correction that standardizes the prothrombin time measured using various thromboplastins with different sensitivities.

   Important! INR and prothrombin according to Quick correlate negatively – a decrease in prothrombin according to Quick corresponds to an increase in INR. The INR of normal plasma fluctuates around 1.0. The optimal INR limits to be achieved during treatment with indirect anticoagulants depend on the therapeutic goals and are determined by the attending physician. So, for example, in the treatment of venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, heart valve diseases, the recommended INR limits are 2.0-3.0. In the treatment of arterial thromboembolism, artificial heart valves, recurrent systemic embolism, the recommended INR limits are 3.0-4.5 (N. Titz, 1997).

3. Prothrombin time (in seconds). Reflects the clotting time of plasma after the addition of thromboplastin-calcium mixture. Such a presentation of the prothrombin test result does not allow for a comparative assessment of the results obtained at different times in different laboratories using different methods and instruments, and most importantly, thromboplastin preparations that differ in origin and activity.
4. Prothrombin index – the ratio of the clotting time of the standard (“normal”) plasma to the clotting time of the test sample, expressed in%. This method of presenting the result of the measurement of prothrombin time, in contrast to Quick prothrombin, is based on one point of comparison with control plasma (100%) and, in the low range, depends significantly on the sensitivity of the reagents used.