More than 250 hospitals, including some in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, and the Carolinas, may be switching to critical blood shortage protocols due to a ransomware attack on provider OneBlood.
OneBlood, a nonprofit blood center in the southeastern U.S., said in a notice on its website that it is working closely with cybersecurity specialists and federal, state, and local agencies as part of their comprehensive response to the situation. As of today, the center remained operational at a significantly reduced capacity, the organization said.
Blood product delays are due to the loss of automated systems from the cyberattack, which is hurting turnaround times and inventory capacity, Florida Health News reported.
“We have implemented manual processes and procedures to remain operational," said Susan Forbes, OneBlood senior vice president of corporate communications and public relations, in a statement. "Manual processes take significantly longer to perform and impacts inventory availability. In an effort to further manage the blood supply we have asked the more than 250 hospitals we serve to activate their critical blood shortage protocols and to remain in that status for the time being.”
Blood centers across the country are sending blood and platelets to OneBlood, and the AABB Disaster Task Force is coordinating national resources to assist with additional blood products being sent to OneBlood, according to the organization.
