A ransomware attack hit critical non-profit blood center OneBlood, causing area hospitals to scramble to find other resources in fear of a blood shortage.
OneBlood, one of the biggest blood donation suppliers in the southeast, was hit with a ransomware attack on Monday that has crippled critical operations, including donation sites and blood unit labeling.
“This is truly an unprecedented event,” said Susan Forbes, the senior vice president of corporate communications for OneBlood.
The attack is affecting more than 75 hospitals in South Florida, including hundreds outside of the area.
“Processing blood is one thing, but then you have to label it,” Forbes said. “Something that took 30 seconds to do before may take five minutes now. So, you start to add things up.”
Blood donation sites are now manually checking potential donors in for appointments as they operate with reduced capacity.
The fallout is affecting major medical systems like …