When nervous teens donate blood for the first time in high school, they may experience minor complications that will make them fearful to give blood again.
That might be why only about 100 University students a month give blood, a number the Lane Memorial Blood Bank would like to see increase.
The total number of student donors the blood bank sees each year is “not as many as you would think when you look at the enormous number of your student population,” said Chris Stockdale, the organization’s manager of community affairs.
The low numbers may be attributed to negative experiences students might have had giving blood when they were 16 and 17. A new study released last month found that teenagers, especially of high school age, were at higher risk for experiencing complications, like minor injuries or lightheadedness, after donating a pint.
According to the study, 10.7 percent of 16- and 17-year-olds and 8.3 percent of 18- and 19-year-olds experienced complications, compared with the much lower 2.8 percent of adults 20 and older.
The reasons behind the higher percentage of complications among teens can be attributed to a number of factors, including “differences in the body” between teenagers and older adults, said Mary Jo Drew at American Red Cross Pacific Northwest Regional Blood Services.
“A lot of teens are just smaller than their older counterparts,” Drew said.
Another reason may be poor diet among teenagers. Since some are giving blood for the first time, they may not know the proper foods to eat and liquids to drink before they donate blood.
“They don’t understand that what we mean by a good meal with protein is not a doughnut,” Stockdale said.
Volunteers with the Lane Memorial Blood Bank tell blood donors to eat a balanced meal with plenty of protein and iron before giving blood. Drinking plenty of fluid is also important.
“It’s good to drink it several hours before you donate so that your tank is full,” said University Health Center Director Ben Douglas.
Some of the lightheadedness and occasional fainting might just be the result of frayed nerves. Older, seasoned blood donors already know the drill and have no cause for worry, but for a lot of teens, “it’s their first time and they’re kind of nervous,” Stockdale said.
High school teens and younger college students might also have a harder time compartmentalizing, which makes for lower blood pressure and a higher risk for lightheadedness later.
“When you’re younger, you’re more prone to the effects of stress or anxiety,” Douglas said.
Regardless of the effects of individual cases, those who work at blood banks cross their fingers that younger donors who have negative experiences their first time giving blood don’t alienate themselves from blood banks thereafter.
“We want to stress that most of these reactions are minor,” Stockdale said. “We don’t want people to be scared away.”
Still, the returning donors blood banks see are those who have never had a negative reaction. If an increasing number of teens, who now make up about 15 percent of the donation pool, are put off by their first experiences and decide not to return, some hospital patients who need blood might not get it.
“If someone has an experience that isn’t really good their first time, they’re about half as likely to come back,” said Drew. “That’s why the Red Cross is looking at more of the parameters of the younger donors.”
The Red Cross is currently updating its nurse training and making it more extensive with respect to blood donation, Drew said, so that nurses will have a better chance of “preventing bad experiences from happening in the first place.”
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