Media Room
The Blood Emergency Readiness Corps launched in September of 2021 and doubled in size by November.
It continues to gain new members every month and assist as needed during mass transfusion events.
The Blood Emergency Readiness Corps launched in September of 2021 and doubled in size by November. It continues to gain new members every month and assist as needed during mass transfusion events.
Blood Emergency Readiness Corps Marks One-year Anniversary
September 8, 2022
Community blood centers across the U.S. align to provide mutual support in times of crisis (Sept. 12, 2022) Blood centers across the U.S. are celebrating the one-year anniversary of the nation’s first emergency blood reserve. The Blood Emergency Readiness Corps (BERC) was founded in 2021 as a partnership by a group of blood centers who joined together to keep the blood supply
The Blood Emergency Readiness Corps (BERC) was been activated in response to support the blood needs following a mass shooting that took place early Sunday, March 1, 2026, in Austin, Texas that resulted in 3 fatalities and 14 injuries.
The BERC inventory reserve was activated to support the needs of hospitals and blood centers in Western New York following a tour bus crash on August 22, 2025. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, creating an increased demand for blood products to support emergency medical treatment.
Through coordinated response efforts, BERC helped ensure that hospitals had access to critical blood supplies needed for trauma care and life-saving procedures.
The BERC inventory reserve was activated to support the needs of blood centers and hospitals following the January 1, 2025 mass casualty incident in New Orleans, Louisiana. The attack resulted in multiple fatalities and dozens of injuries, creating an urgent demand for blood products to treat victims.

Through coordinated emergency response efforts, BERC worked with regional blood centers to help stabilize the blood supply and ensure hospitals received the critical blood components needed for trauma care and emergency treatment.
The BERC inventory reserve is being activated to support the needs of The Blood Center (New Orleans), who is supporting the blood needs following a mass casualty incident overnight, when a vehicle drove into a crowd, killing at least 10 and injuring at least 30 others.
The BERC inventory reserve was activated to support hospitals and blood centers across Southwest Florida following the impact of Hurricane Milton. Severe weather conditions disrupted local blood donation operations and created an urgent need for additional blood supplies.
Through coordinated response efforts, BERC worked with regional blood centers to help stabilize the blood inventory and ensure hospitals continued receiving critical blood products for trauma care, emergency surgeries, and other life-saving treatments.
The BERC inventory reserve was activated to support hospitals and blood centers across Southwest Florida following the impact of Hurricane Debby. Severe weather conditions and flooding disrupted local blood collection operations, creating an urgent need for additional blood supplies to support ongoing patient care.
Through coordinated emergency response efforts, BERC partnered with regional blood centers to help stabilize the blood supply and ensure hospitals continued to receive critical blood products for trauma patients, emergency surgeries, and other life-saving treatments.
A ransomware cyberattack disrupted operations at several healthcare and blood collection systems across the Southeast United States, creating challenges in maintaining normal blood supply operations. The disruption increased concern about the availability of critical blood products for hospitals treating patients across the region.
To help stabilize the situation, the Blood Emergency Readiness Corps (BERC) activated its inventory reserve to support affected blood centers and ensure hospitals continued receiving essential blood components.
Severe tornadoes struck several communities across North Texas, causing widespread damage and leaving many people injured. Local hospitals quickly began treating victims with traumatic injuries, creating an urgent need for additional blood supplies.
In response to the emergency, the Blood Emergency Readiness Corps (BERC) activated its inventory reserve to support regional blood centers and hospitals. The rapid deployment of blood products helped ensure that medical teams had the critical resources needed to provide lifesaving care to those affected by the disaster.
This coordinated response demonstrated the vital role of emergency blood reserves in supporting communities during large-scale natural disasters.
The Blood Emergency Readiness Corps (BERC) inventory reserve was activated to support the urgent needs of The Blood Center in New Orleans, which was assisting hospitals responding to a mass casualty incident.

The activation followed a tragic event in Perryton, Texas, when a vehicle drove into a crowd, resulting in multiple fatalities and leaving many others seriously injured. Hospitals quickly required additional units of blood to provide critical trauma care for the victims.
To ensure an adequate supply, BERC coordinated the rapid deployment of blood products from its emergency reserve, helping regional blood centers meet the sudden demand and support medical teams treating those affected.
This response highlighted the importance of a coordinated national blood reserve that can quickly provide lifesaving resources during large-scale emergencies.
In response to blood inventory needs in Florida following the impact of Hurricane Milton on the region’s blood supply.

Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane at Siesta Key, Florida on the evening of Wednesday, October 9 and moved across the state through the early morning hours of Thursday, October 10.
Sustained winds of more than 120 miles per hour and heavy rain have caused widespreaddamage, power outages, and cancellation of blood drives and missed donation appointments across the region.
The AABB Disaster Response Task Force has been activated in response to Hurricane Milton and BERC member SunCoast Blood Centers, based in Sarasota, has requested blood inventory support through activation of Blood Emergency Readiness Corps.
BERC members that are on call this week are now preparing shipments of type O-positive and O-negative red blood cells to ensure patient needs in the region are met as SunCoastBlood Centers works to recover from the storm’s impact on blood donation.
In response to blood inventory needs along Florida’s Gulf Coast following the impact of Hurricane Debby, the BERC inventory reserve was activated to support hospitals in the affected region. Hurricane Debby made landfall on the west coast of Florida early Monday, bringing high winds and heavy rainfall.

The severe weather led to widespread cancellations of blood drives and missed donation appointments across the region, creating pressure on the local blood supply. Blood providers across the United States that were on call for BERC responded by shipping reserve blood components to hospitals to help maintain critical patient care.
Following the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX, BERC activated to send blood products to South Texas Blood & Tissue to ensure had the blood they needed to support the community. On-call responding blood centers: The Community Blood Center, SunCoast Blood Centers, Carter BloodCare, The Blood Connection, Vitalant, Rock River Valley Blood Center, Community Blood Center of the Ozarks, LifeServe Blood Center, The Blood Center and Miller Keystone Blood Center
In response to the devastating tornadoes that struck several midwestern and southern states, BERC activated to send blood products to ensure Blood Assurance in Chattanooga, TN, had access to a needed blood supply. On-call responding blood centers: The Community Blood Center, SunCoast Blood Centers, Carter BloodCare, and The Blood Connection.
During a disaster like the 2021 tornadoes, the first few hours are critical. Traditional "emergency drives" take days to organize and process; BERC ensures that blood is already on the shelf and ready to be flown or driven to the disaster zone within hours.

This event was one of the first major activations of the BERC system, proving that a unified network of independent blood centers could effectively manage national-scale tragedies.
On-call BERC shipped boxes of red blood cells for trauma care to the eight remaining victims of a school shooting in Oxford, MI, after a request from Versiti-Michigan, the blood supplier serving the local area. On-call responding blood centers: Central Pennsylvania Blood Bank, Coastal Bend Blood Center, Oklahoma Blood Institute.
A mass shooting at a grocery store in Memphis, TN produced an urgent need for extra pints of blood to care for the 12 surviving victims who were rushed to hospitals after the assault. Answering a call from Vitalant, a blood supplier serving the local area, BERC raced to ship boxes of red blood cells for trauma care. Read more. On-call responding blood centers: Houchin Community Blood Bank, South Texas Blood & Tissue Center, We Are Blood.
Because the local blood supplier, Vitalant, needed to ensure they had enough "on-the-shelf" units for the surviving victims in surgery, they called upon BERC.

Immediate Activation: BERC responded just two weeks after its national launch.
The Shipment: Partnering blood centers that were "on call" for that rotation immediately shipped units of O-Negative and O-Positive blood (the universal types used in trauma) to the Memphis area.
Supporting Centers: Centers like The Community Blood Center (Ohio), SunCoast Blood Centers (Florida), and others provided the surplus units to ensure doctors didn't have to worry about a shortage during the crisis.
BERC Activation Launches
The Blood Emergency Readiness Corps has 33 blood centers nationwide.
CBC JOINS NATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR MASS TRANSFUSION READINESS
BERC ANNOUNCEMENT IS APRIL 27 AT KALAMAN MEMORIAL BLOOD DRIVE DAYTON, Ohio – Community Blood Center has joined 30 blood centers across the nation in
CBCO joins Blood Emergency Readiness Corps
MARCH 22, 2022 — Community Blood Center of the Ozarks (CBCO), the sole supplier of blood products to 44 area healthcare facilities, has joined a first-in-the-nation
Blood Assurance Joins Nation’s First Emergency Blood Reserve
Wednesday, February 9, 2022 Facing an increasingly unsteady blood supply, Blood Assurance has joined a first-in-the-nation partnership to ensure preparedness for emergency situations where blood
Blood Emergency Readiness Corps activation for mass shooting in Austin, Texas
The national Blood Emergency Readiness Corps (BERC) has been activated in response to a mass shooting that took place early Sunday in Austin, Texas. ImpactLife is among 12 blood providers across the country that have been asked to ship blood components in the BERC activation.
South Texas Blood & Tissue sends blood units to Austin after 6th Street mass shooting
The Blood Emergency Readiness Corp (BERC) has been activated and an additional 140 units have been sent from various blood centers, including O negative and O positive.
The blood bank says community support is critical and community members are encouraged to donate at any local donor center.
Eastern Iowa blood provider shipping supplies in response to deadly New York bus crash
Blood Emergency Readiness Corps enables ImpactLife to get lifesaving blood components where they are needed most. And, BERC gives us confidence that blood products will be available to meet transfusion needs for hospitals and EMS groups in our region if we are faced with a similar spike in demand.
Houchin Community Blood Bank sends blood to New Orleans after terrorist attack; needs help increasing supply
BERC started in 2021 and is ready for disasters that require mass blood transfusions. Blood banks with BERC around the country are on call for a period of time during each month.
New Orleans blood center activates national emergency corp to treat victims on Bourbon Street
The New Orleans Blood Center activated its national emergency response corps to support the urgent need for blood supplies following the incident on Bourbon Street
Blood Emergency Readiness Corps activated in response to Hurricane Milton
The Blood Emergency Readiness Corps (BERC) has been activated in response to blood inventory needs in Florida following the impact of Hurricane Milton on the region’s blood supply. Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane at Siesta Key, Florida on the evening of Wednesday, October 9 and moved across the state through the early morning hours of Thursday, October 10.
Blood Emergency Readiness Corps Activated in response to Hurricane Debby
The Blood Emergency Readiness Corps (BERC) was activated in response to blood inventory needs on Florida’s Gulf Coast following the impact of Hurricane Debby on the region’s blood supply. Hurricane Debby made landfall on the west coast of Florida early Monday, bringing high winds and heavy rain that have caused widespread cancellation of blood drives and missed donation appointments across the region.
Midwest tornadoes activate nation's emergency blood reserve
THE CAROLINAS AND GEORGIA, Dec. 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Blood Emergency Readiness Corps (BERC) has been activated in response to the tornado outbreak in the Midwest. Yesterday’s significant weather has resulted in an immediate need for blood products in the areas impacted by the tornadoes.
Collierville shooting activated emergency blood supply
COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. — The mass shooting at the Kroger in Collierville sparked an urgent need for extra pints of blood to care for the 12 surviving victims who were rushed to hospitals after the assault.
Mississippi Blood Services joins mass transfusion program
Mississippi Blood Services joins mass transfusion prgram JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – As a result of the nationwide blood shortage, Mississippi Blood Services (MBS) joined the
Impact Life joins emergency blood network
ImpactLife has joined a first-in-the-nation partnership of community blood centers to help prepare the ImpactLife service region for emergencies that may lead to high demand for blood
TestimonIAL
William Bullock
City of San Antonio
