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Guest Column Blood Center faces summer blues "Sometimes I wonder what I'm a gonna do Those lyrics describe how we often feel here at Coffee Memorial Blood Center as summer approaches. It's a sort of "woe is me" attitude that slips in as blood center staff try to figure how to deal with an increased demand for blood by patients in area hospitals and fewer people coming in to donate. That's not a good combination. Summertime activities, including increased travel and associated risks, as well as planned medical procedures that are intentionally scheduled for the school summer vacation period, contribute to the increased demand for blood. And, of course, the normal day-in, day-out need does not take the summer off! Ironically, just as summer activities contribute to an increased number of blood transfusions, they also tend to reduce the number of donors who are available. Lots of folks are traveling. School's out, so a significant number of blood drives can't be held. Businesses are often short-staffed due to vacation schedules, so we're asked to cut back on the number of company blood drives. But guess what? We have plans to deal with all these issues. We don't want you to wait for a blood drive to come to your school or workplace or community. We want you to visit us here at our main facility at 7500 Wallace on the western edge of the medical center. Not only would we like you to donate "the gift of life" while you're here, we'd like to take you on a tour for a behind-the-scenes look at what's done to ensure the safety and availability of blood throughout the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles. There's more! Why not consider bringing some folks with you when you visit? How about your children or grandchildren or a scout or church group you're involved with? Maybe some fellow Kiwanians or Rotarians or Lions club members. Believe me, there is a lot more going on behind the scenes than you would think; it helps give a better understanding of the whole process, from donor recruitment to processing, testing and delivery of various blood products to the 31 medical facilities we serve. As if saving lives is not enough reason to give blood this summer, donors can register to win one of four trips to such places as Austin, Albuquerque and San Antonio. It's called "Have Blood, Will Travel" and it will conclude with drawings on July 1. One of the special issues we've been dealing with in the last few months is the inconsistent supply of certain blood types. As most people know, type-O individuals are what we call "universal donors" because their red blood cells can be transfused to almost all patients, even before we know the patient's blood type. That's important, especially when accidents occur and there is precious little time to waste. Unfortunately we struggle to collect enough type-O blood. E-mail is helping — we can send targeted messages to eligible type-O donors when inventory is especially low. On the other side of the picture, you might be surprised to hear that we are occasionally overstocked with type-A+ blood. When that happened a few weeks ago, we started asking A+ donors to delay donating until the oversupply corrected itself. The response was terrific. Some donors learned they were qualified to donate platelets, and they did. Other A+ donors went on a list to be called when needed — almost all of them came back when that actually happened. We believe that the more you know about the need for blood, and for certain blood types and blood products, the easier it will be for us to meet the community's needs. Who knows, maybe we can make those summertime blues a thing of the past! Jim Rutledge: President and CEO of the Coffee Memorial Blood Center. Across the Fence Kathie Greer's column will return next week. E-mail
comments about this story Posted: June 4, 2009 |
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