Red Cross declares national blood crisis, urgently seeks donations. The blood shortage-driven by the pandemic-has led to delays in medical treatments, as the Red Cross, which normally supplies 40% of the nation's blood, has had to limit distributions to hospitals, on some days by as much as 25% of the requested supply. For information on donating blood or volunteering for blood drives, go to http://www.redcross.org/give-blood.html.