Chicago violence puts blood supply at a premium

Chicago violence puts blood supply at a premium

In Chicago this weekend, a 12-year-old boy was critically wounded in a drive-by shooting, another victim what has seemed like non-stop violence there lately. Things are so bad that one hospital emergency room has actually come close to running out of supplies of blood for incoming patients. Over the Fourth of July weekend alone there were a reported 63 shootings and 11 murders. Staggering numbers push the trauma unit in public hospitals to the brink. With the number of homicides this year over 200, albeit a slight decrease over last year, for Mayor Richard Daley it is still a senseless loss. "That's a sad thing. Another funeral, another funeral. It's about time that people get outraged." Chief trauma surgeon Andrew Dennis says his hospital recently came dangerously close to running out of blood for transfusions. "This is the 1st time we've been critically short to the point where someone could perish because we didn't have the right product to give them."