Blood donations drop in region

By Luke Gianni
CNS staff writer

With all the bad economic news, it may be a comfort to know you can access a basic medical examination that requires no insurance or money – only your blood.

That is one selling point of donating blood, according to the American Red Cross. Their organization conducts stringent – and free – blood screens, in hopes of drawing out more people to donate.

Many regional blood bank operators are apprehensive about how the recession might affect the region’s blood supply.

Their concern stems from what they see happening in regions like Yolo County, which has seen a slight drop in blood donations since the economic downturn. Although supplies there are holding steady, officials said they are have to work harder to find blood donors.

Fortunately, the drop in donations has largely been offset by a corresponding decrease in demand, according to Leslie Botos, spokeswoman for Blood Source, the county’s official blood donor agency.

“I don’t think there isn’t a blood bank in the country that hasn’t been affected by the economy,” Botos said.

The majority of the agency’s blood drives are conducted at businesses, and Blood Source relies heavily on donations from those employees, she said. When businesses close, the agency has to find a new place to hold drives. That results in the loss of some regular donors.

“Any time a business closes, you lose a familiar place to donate blood,” Botos said. “It’s been getting harder and harder each day and we have to get creative.”

Donors are often anxious about taking time off of work to give blood, Botos said. Furthermore, this type of philanthropy has taken a back seat to other priorities for many in Yolo County.

But as the bad economy has caused a decrease in blood donations, it has also served to lessen the demand.

Botos said Yolo County hospitals have reported a recent and significant drop in elective surgeries and that could account for the decreased demand.

Botos said she expects Bloodsource to collect far less this year than average, which is about 85,000 donations.

Sara O’Brien, spokeswoman for the Northern California Division of the American Red Cross, said regional supplies are at normal levels – that is to say they are very tenuous.

“It’s not like we have an excess supply,” O’Brien said. “We have just enough for a day-to-day basis. We would rather be operating on a week-to-week basis.”

O’Brien said her agency, which covers operations in the Bay Area and San Jose, has been monitoring the supply level in the wake of the country’s recent economic troubles.

“We haven’t seen a run up on blood, and elective surgeries have decreased,” O’Brien said.

The main obstacle to blood donations is the same as it has always been, she said – extremely tight standards.

“Only 38 percent are eligible to give blood,” O’Brien said. “And out of that 35 percent, only three to five percent actually give blood.”

Low iron levels and any blood-related ailments will disqualify a donor from giving blood, according to the policy of the Food and Drug Administration, the agency in charge of regulating blood donation in the United States.

The FDA also bars homosexuals, drug users and anyone who has traveled for three months or more in the United Kingdom from 1980 through 1996 from giving blood.

On the bright side, O’Brien said the FDA’s air-tight standards might be a selling point to those who have recently lost their health benefits.

“If you don’t have medical insurance, well, we really are doing a mini-medical health examine,” O’Brien said. “If they notice something wrong with [your blood], we will notify you right away.”

O’Brien said they screen blood for the most common sexually transmitted diseases as well as a few other ailments at no cost.

And if the economy has dampened your altruistic means, blood donation is free and always needed, she said.

“If you’re used to giving to charity ad now you can’t, at least you’re able to in a low cost way to make a difference in someone else’s life.”