A cyberattack at the end of July nearly cut off the blood supply to local hospitals.
“It is absolutely a situation that could have resulted in the loss of lives,” Mary Mayhew, President & CEO of the Florida Hospital Association told the ABC Action News I-Team.
OneBlood , which serves more than 250 hospitals in the Southeast, was hit by a ransomware attack on July 29. The attack disabled the system that allows it to quickly label and distribute blood.
The I-Team dug into how close Florida came to running out of blood and how OneBlood, hospital systems, and state and federal leaders came together to make it through the attack and recover within 10 days.
OneBlood hit by ransomware attack, impacting blood supply to Florida hospitals
The simple act of donating life-saving blood was complicated because hackers are now targeting blood banks.
Nick Hoffschneider went to South Tampa’s OneBlood Center to make a donation at the recommendation of his doctor.
“You’ve got to help people out. Maybe save some lives,” Hoffschneider said.