The weather is impacting blood donations and straining supplies.
Laura McGuire is a spokeswoman for the American Red Cross. She says donations were already down because of the holidays. She says the large amount of snow and low temperatures increases the need for blood. She says there were also some cancelled drives because of the government shutdown.
McGuire says those drives were going to be sponsored by government agencies and the military.
Right now there’s less than a three-day supply of most blood types on hand. The Red Cross works to maintain a five-day supply.
