After seeing the nation’s blood supply peak after the Sept. 11 attacks, blood banks now worry about a trend of low donation numbers, especially in rare blood types.
During the first eight months of 2001, blood collection agencies nationwide averaged 342,000 units, each of which is nearly a pint, of donated whole blood and red blood cells each month, according to the National Blood Data Resource Center, which surveyed about 50 percent of American blood banks. In response to the Sept. 11 attacks, the nation answered the call and blood collection rose 38.4 percent to 473,000 units. That number dropped for three straight months until bottoming out in December at nearly 320,000 units.
“It is imperative that the entire blood industry and the American public recognize the growing need for blood donations,” said Dr. Jerry Squires, vice president and chief scientific officer of biomedical services at the American Red Cross.
Locally, the Lane Memorial Blood Bank is also seeing a decline, according to Christine Stockdale, the blood bank’s spokeswoman.
“LMBB usually has an adequate supply of blood in inventory to meet the needs of patients in the Lane County hospitals,” she said, pointing out that the bank keeps a six-day supply of blood, while “the majority of the nation’s blood banks carry a two- to three-day supply.”
Presently, however, LMBB is experiencing a shortage of one or two blood types because of heavy usage by patients in local hospitals.
Right now type O positive is 30 percent below and type A positive is 22 percent below what LMBB considers safe levels, Stockdale said.
Blood banks are still trying to find solutions to problems that arose from over-collecting blood after Sept. 11, including the unforeseen cost of collecting and disposing of blood that would never be put to use.
“The two primary lessons learned from the Sept. 11 disaster include the need to control collections in excess of actual medical need and the need to ensure that facilities maintain adequate inventories to prepare for disasters,” according to an American Association of Blood Banks report.
Although outdated products are an unavoidable part of blood banking, the American Red Cross felt a big dip in available product in last two months.
“The American Red Cross discarded close to 50,000 units of blood that had been donated post-Sept. 11 due to the fact that red blood cells have a shelf life of only 42 days,” Stockdale said.
The AABB, ARC and LMBB are all searching for and finding ways to eliminate over-collection and supplement the nation’s shortage of repeat and one-time donors.
“Many of our regular and long-time donors are now reaching the age where they are unable to give, either because of health problems or passing away. It is essential for us to recruit younger people, especially high school and college students,” Stockdale said.
Karen Lipton, chief executive officer of AABB, said, “The best preparation for the next disaster is to ensure that we have adequate blood inventories on our shelves every day in all locations across the country.”
The next blood drive at the University will be held Monday, Feb. 18. Registration will be in the main lobby of the EMU.