So now Oshonda's mother has to take her to the hospital twice as often. After each transfusion, Oshonda also must take medications which make her violently ill for up to three days, so that ordeal is doubled, too. And Oshonda is not the only person at greater risk. Long Beach Memorial is a level-one trauma center, a place where badly injured people are taken after accidents. Treating them can consume enormous quantities of blood, especially type O blood, which can be given to anyone regardless of their own blood type.
Type O is one of the types where supplies are critically low.
Dr. Emanuel Ferro runs the hospital's blood bank. We are literally a car wreck away from having no blood on our shelves. So we're really at risk for a trauma or series of traumas to sort of wipe us out and then leave us without blood for other patients that may need blood. Long Beach Memorial is one of 150 hospitals in the Los Angeles area that depends on the American Red Cross to supply most of its blood. Dr. Peter Page runs the Los Angeles blood bank.