How Quickly Can We Build up the National Blood Supply? Measuring Shocks to the U.S. Blood Supply Through Real‑time Data and Case Studies on Disruption, Supply‑chain Stress, and System Recovery

Proposed Session Description: Over the last four years, the U.S. blood supply has experienced increasingly frequent and severe operational shocks including sudden supply chain breakdowns, donor side disruptions, and inventory volatility that impact component collection, manufacturing, distribution, and ultimately supply for transfusion practices. These events are occurring more often and the blood industry and our stakeholders need quantifiable, real-time data to understand how these shocks unfold and to guide rapid, coordinated response. Leveraging Circulate’s national-scale dataset, informed by a direct representation of 60%+ of U.S. supply, this session uses real case studies from the past four and a half years to demonstrate how data allows organizations to measure the impact of a shock to the blood system as it develops, communicate its scope accurately, monitor supply chain stress in real time, and assess the system’s ramp down and recovery patterns.

Unlike Circulate’s other proposed sessions which address long term national trends and operational signals, this presentation focuses on acute operational disruptions, the measurability of these disruptions through Circulate’s data, and how these insights empower teams to strengthen preparedness, continuity of operations, and patient care.

Session Components
Inventory reactions: Measuring the blood supply’s ability to ramp up or be rapidly diminished either intentionally or as the result of a shock to the system.
Shock signatures across the system: The impact of shocks to the system on donor presentations, inventory fluctuations, shifts in product mix, and collection site vulnerabilities.
Real-world perspective: A representative from one of Circulate’s members will be joining the presentation to provide additional, real-world perspective on the presented data and case studies.

Why This Matters Now
With more frequent climate events and supply chain vulnerabilities the blood community needs an understanding of the benefits of real-time visibility into how shocks disrupt both supply and supply chain flow—and how quickly the system can recover. This session provides a practical measurement toolkit to help organizations anticipate, identify, and respond to the next disruption.