Impact of Natural Disasters and Pandemics on Blood Supply A Systematic Review

The authors reviewed the literature to understand how pandemics and natural disasters affect the blood supply. They note that there was a drop in donations during the COVID-19 pandemic and increases in first time donors after earthquakes. Public campaigns, transportation for donors, home visits, minimizing blood product wastage, contingency plans, and changing donor eligibility are all important to promoting donations, reducing blood product procurement costs, and improving robustness of the blood supply.