American Red Cross declares second national blood crisis in history as type O positive supply drops below one day

2 min readJul 30, 2026 03:03 PM IST The American Red Cross declared a critical US blood supply shortage—only the second time in its 150-year history—after levels dropped by 25% in a single month. (File Photo/Canva)The American Red Cross, for the second time in its history, declared a blood supply “crisis” in the United States, citing a sharp decline in donation levels. “We’re facing a national blood crisis — only the second one in our organisation’s history. Blood donations have fallen to a four-year summer low, pushing an already strained blood supply to a critical level,” the non-profit humanitarian and disaster-relief agency said in a post on X.It further issued an urgent appeal for blood donors to step up and help patients “counting on lifesaving blood for emergency surgeries, trauma c