OneBlood, the not-for-profit blood center serving much of the southeastern United States, announced its critical software systems utilized to manage its daily operations are starting to come back online.
Why this matters: On Monday, July 29, OneBlood became the target of ransomware. The blood center quickly implemented manual processes so it could continue to collect, test, process and distribute blood to more than 250 hospitals throughout the southeastern United States.
- The resulting blood shortage is so severe that the Florida Hospital Association (FHA) has recommended that affected hospitals begin to activate critical blood shortage protocols. Hospitals should review their contingency plans in the event of future supply chain disruptions caused by hackers.
- Some health systems delayed elective surgeries, while others sought different suppliers.
“Manual processes take longer to perform. We felt the impact of this the most when it came to labeling blood for release to hospitals. Despite the challenges, we have remained operational throughout the ransomware event. Blood drives are taking place, our donor centers have remained open, and we continue to see a tremendous response from OneBlood donors answering the call for blood donations,” said Susan Forbes, OneBlood’s senior vice president of corporate communications and public relations.
Update at 5 a.m.: In a written statement, Forbes said, “Our critical software systems have cleared re-verification and are operating in a reduced capacity. As we begin to transition back to an automated production environment, manual labeling of blood products will continue. Additionally, we are beginning to return to using our electronic registration process for donors. We continue to move in the right direction and anticipate solid improvement of the blood supply over the next few days.
- She added, “The investigation into the ransomware event is ongoing. The OneBlood team along with outside specialists continue to work around the clock to bring our operations back to full capacity as soon as possible.”