Dr. Elliott Bennett-Guerrero is an expert in blood transfusion practices and monitors nationwide blood supplies. Severe winter storms in early 2015 canceled many American Red Cross blood donation drives, leaving hospitals with over 7,500 fewer blood units than expected in January alone. The Red Cross is concerned about the impact of lost donation opportunities and is seeking new donation sites and donors to make up for the shortfall.

2.  A tenured professor of anesthesiology, Dr. Elliott
Bennett-Guerrero has published and presented
extensively on best practices in blood transfusion. Dr.
Elliott Bennett-Guerrero also serves as director of
perioperative clinical research at the Duke Clinical
Research Institute, where he closely monitors
nationwide blood supplies.
In the winter of 2015, storms canceled schools and
special events across the country. Many of these
special events were American Red Cross blood
donation drives, which serve an essential role in
providing blood for patients across the country in
need of transfusions.

3.  Red Cross authorities have expressed concern
at the volume of blood that has gone
uncollected, largely because the opportunity
to host school-based blood drives is limited by
the length of the academic year.
In January alone, weather across the country
canceled more than 200 drives and left
hospitals with 7,500 fewer units than they would
have had. The trend continued in February,
when more than 300 drives did not happen.
The Red Cross is responding by looking into
new drive host sites while expanding its
marketing efforts to attract new donors.