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The holiday season is here, a time of families gathering together to feast, children anticipating presents around a Christmas tree and… a critical shortage in the supply of blood needed for emergencies. Through Dec.15, the American Red Cross is offering a $15 digital gift card to qualified blood donors to help build up its lifesaving reserves.
“You’ve got people traveling, stuck at home because they are sick or otherwise out of their regular routines,” said Red Cross Development Communications Manager Jenny Arrieta. “We always see fewer donations at this time of year, but the need for blood nationwide never slows down.”
Arrieta said that in the U.S., there is a patient who needs blood transfusions every two seconds around the clock. Blood must be processed before it can be used and can only be stored for 42 days—platelet donations last only five days. This means that, in the case of a sudden catastrophic need, reserves can be quickly depleted with no ready replacements.
Arrieta said there are shortages at certain times of the year, particularly the summer and winter months. The need became critical last July when the nation’s blood inventory dropped 25%.
“We see less blood donated in the summer,” she said. “School is out, and people are going on vacation. Heat can play a role in canceling blood drives—we need a climate-controlled setting to collect the blood. So at times like that, we have to beat the drums louder for donations and really encourage people.”
According to Arrieta, donors must meet height, weight, and blood type requirements. For example, the donor must be over 16, weigh at least 110 pounds, and be healthy. Potential donors taking certain medications, like blood thinners, are disqualified. The most desirable blood types include O-negative, O-positive, A-negative, and B-negative.
“Every blood type is needed,” Arrieta said. “But the one most in demand is the universal donor, O-negative, which can be received by anybody. That is what emergency room medical staff reach for during trauma cases when they don’t have time to type a patient’s blood.”
The Red Cross books donation appointments through its website or a downloadable app that allows you to track your blood to the hospital where it is used. Arrieta said the process for donating blood is fairly simple and swift, taking about 10 minutes from when the needle is inserted.
“When you come to your appointment,” she said, “you have a quick session where they take your blood pressure, check your temperature and measure your hemoglobin. They clean your arm and find a good vein. And they do so many of these in a day that you hardly feel the needle go in.”
After the donation, participants are taken to a canteen to rest and grab some snacks to bring their blood sugar back up to normal.
Arrieta said that donating platelets, which contain the component that makes blood coagulate and are particularly in demand for use with cancer patients and burn victims, is a more complicated process and can take over two hours.
“You’ve got one arm where they are taking blood from you,” she said. “It goes through a machine that separates the platelets and then back into your other arm. Each chair has a TV and a pair of headphones, and you can just sit back, relax and watch Netflix.”
Arrieta recommends that potential donors visit the Red Cross website for more information about the types of blood donations that can be made, the more specific requirements to donate, and how the donated blood is used.
“Donating blood is a simple way to help your community,” she said. “It doesn’t take that long, it’s easy, and it does help save lives. There’s a chance someone we know will need blood at some point in their lives. One day, it might be us.”
Donation resources
- To make a donation appointment: www.redcrossblood.org
- To download the free Blood Donor app: www.redcross.org/apps
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