Red Cross needs blood donors

Jan. 31—A nationwide blood shortage emergency has been compounded in January due to winter storms canceling hundreds of blood drives, according to the American Red Cross' national headquarters.

Nationwide, more than 530 such Red Cross blood drives were lost, leading to as many as 15,000 blood and platelet donations not being collected, the American Red Cross announced Tuesday.

Approximately 29,000 units of red blood cells, nearly 5,000 units of platelets and 6,500 units of plasma are needed daily in the U.S., according to the organization.

Around 13.6 million units of whole blood and red blood cells are collected annually with about 6.8 million people in the U.S. donating, the Red Cross said.

Right now, the organization needs to collect an additional 8,000 blood donations each week through the next few weeks to recover from the current blood shortage.

"We lost one drive (in northwest Pennsylvania) in December and two in January due to the weather," Kim Michael, area account manager of the Red Cross, said Tuesday.

"One of our crews was on the way to a (Jan. 17) drive in Meadville when they got stuck on Interstate 90 due to a multi-car pileup on the highway," she said.

Michael oversees Red Cross drives in Crawford, Erie, Mercer, Lawrence and Butler counties. In fact, she was in Meadville on Tuesday for two blood drives being held in the city.

One was downtown at Active Aging's Meadville Community Center on Park Avenue while the other was at Schultz Hall on Allegheny College's campus hosted by Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.

People are starting to respond to Red Cross appeals for blood donations, according to Michael.

"The Active Aging one was booked full and Allegheny's goal is more than 30 pints," she said. Allegheny's drive was accepting walk-ins.

Blood is essential for surgeries, cancer treatment, chronic illnesses and traumatic injuries. Blood and platelets can't be manufactured, but come from donors. One unit of whole blood may help as many as three patients.

Donors at the two local drives said giving blood is a simple and effective way to help others.

Mary Daniels of Conneaut Lake said she's been donating on a regular basis for about three years. She actually got started around 20 years ago when a neighbor knocked door-to-door in her neighborhood encouraging blood donations.

"It's a habit now," Daniels said while donating at Active Aging. "I do it on my lunch hour. My boss lets me have extra time to do it. I always make sure I get myself a sweet treat on the way back to the office."

Brenda Wait of Cochranton was adding to her total of more than 100 pints donated on Tuesday. Wait said the blood donations over the years have been a way to honor her late spouse.

"My husband had a lot of surgeries in his life and needed a lot of blood, so I feel I'm giving back a little bit by doing so," Wait said.

"It's a way to help out because a lot of people can't donate," Stephen McCauley of Meadville said of why he was donating. McCauley said he's donated more than 30 pints of blood over about 20 years.

Gavin Minder, 20, an Allegheny College senior from Wheeling, West Virginia, was donating blood for just the second time Tuesday. It also was his first time donating what was known as a double-red donation.

Unlike whole blood donation of red blood cells, plasma and platelets, it uses a special automated process called apheresis to collect two units of just red blood cells during a single donation. The donation of concentrated of red cells can help twice as many patients.

"It's not hard to do and you have an impact on people," Minder said. "I'll have to do is sit here."

"There's just a constant need for blood," Michael explained.

The next Meadville-area appointments are on Feb. 13 and 27 at Active Aging, which holds drives on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month.

Appointments also may be made online at redcrossblood.org; search by ZIP code. The Red Cross is offering a $20 Amazon gift card by email as an incentive to those who donate from Feb. 1 through 29.

Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.