Red Cross Blood Shortage

[KT0930]

Mods, I think this belongs here, since it sort of involves transplants, but maybe off-topic? I'm not sure.

This Friday the company I work for is hosting it's second annual Red Cross blood drive, and we're running shorter on donors than we did last year, so our Red Cross rep sent me some information regarding the current shortage. Unfortunately one of the pleas she sent me involves a local transplant candidate. Apparently there's a patient at a local hospital awaiting a transplant, and the hospital has requested 100 units of blood be on hand before they'll proceed with the surgery (or accept an organ, I'm guessing). The local Red Cross has only been able to supply 27 units.

How sad is this that the issue keeping someone from a transplant is not the lack of an organ, but a lack of blood! When donations are the way they should be, they average about 500-600 donors per day in the Atlanta area. Right now, they'd have to average 900 a day just to make up for the shortage.

I actually heard someone in my office say to someone else who wasn't sure about donating, "Well, I like my blood right where it is, in my body". Idiot! Thankfully, the other one decided to donate anyway - his mom is one of my good friends.

[jbeany]

I've been diabetic since 13, so they never wanted mine, even when I got old enough.  I used to volunteer for the drives, though, and make cookies - best I could do!

[flip]

The local Red Cross director is a good friend of mine and I've made a lot of donations but they still won't take my blood. Wonder why?

[kelliOR]

This may sound naive, but how can a hospital be designated as a transplant facility without blood bank reserves

What if there's an incoming trauma to this facility's ER at the time of transplant ?

I don't understand this.......

[Chris]

I've been diabetic since 13, so they never wanted mine, even when I got old enough.  I used to volunteer for the drives, though, and make cookies - best I could do!

I asked about donating prior to transplant and when I told them I was diabetic, how long, which insulin I was using, and when I stopped using Pork/Beef made insulin. I was told I would have to wait so many years before I could donate because I had used the Beef/Pork made insulin. Now they won't take me because of having a transplant.

[KT0930]

This may sound naive, but how can a hospital be designated as a transplant facility without blood bank reserves

What if there's an incoming trauma to this facility's ER at the time of transplant ?

I don't understand this.......

I believe hospitals typically have enough on hand for traumas, but they like to have additional on hand specifically for a transplant when one is being performed. Also, in this area, we have two hospitals that are designated as transplant centers (for adults), Piedmont and Emory. There is also a Level 1 trauma hospital (Grady). All are fairly centrally located, so if there is a trauma, I think the patient is automatically taken to Grady.

[stauffenberg]

By the medical definition of an 'organ,' blood is an organ every bit as much as a kidney is, yet it is perfectly legal to pay for live donors to give blood, but not to pay donors to give a spare kidney.  Is that because even healthy people are likely to need blood some day, so the supply cannot be allowed to fall short, but only 'sick freaks' ever need a kidney transplant, so it is all right to leave us stranded without enough kidneys to save our lives by transplant?

[Lori1851]

The blood center calls me all the time. I am B+. I called them to see if they would come to Dustin's car show what a better way to get people to donate
Lori/Indiana

[KT0930]

Our blood drive was yesterday, and while we fell short of our goal of 45 donors/35 pints, we came close. We ended up with 29 pints. I think close to 45 attempted to donate, but of course people are turned away for various reasons.

We should have had more people attempt to donate, but the printer in the bloodmobile broke down for about an hour or more, so they were needing to do everything by hand. Due to that, we fell behind in the schedule, and at the end of the day people needed to leave to get home/other jobs/new babies/etc. There were about 5 of our employees who left before they could donate.

[Wallyz]

By the medical definition of an 'organ,' blood is an organ every bit as much as a kidney is, yet it is perfectly legal to pay for live donors to give blood, but not to pay donors to give a spare kidney.  Is that because even healthy people are likely to need blood some day, so the supply cannot be allowed to fall short, but only 'sick freaks' ever need a kidney transplant, so it is all right to leave us stranded without enough kidneys to save our lives by transplant?

C'mon stauffenberg, it' s not that we're sick freaks. It's that we did it to ourselves.  We deserve our illness and we need to suck it up and take care of ourselves.

[Romona]

By the medical definition of an 'organ,' blood is an organ every bit as much as a kidney is, yet it is perfectly legal to pay for live donors to give blood, but not to pay donors to give a spare kidney.� Is that because even healthy people are likely to need blood some day, so the supply cannot be allowed to fall short, but only 'sick freaks' ever need a kidney transplant, so it is all right to leave us stranded without enough kidneys to save our lives by transplant?

C'mon stauffenberg, it' s not that we're sick freaks. It's that we did it to ourselves. We deserve our illness and we need to suck it up and take care of ourselves.

Of course we all did something wrong. Some of us probably removed mattress tags. Maybe we were in an express lane and had 12 items instead of 10. I could go on and on with reasons we deserved Kidney Disease. 

Back to the original topic. I know around here if you get blood, they would like you to organize a drive to replenish the supply. I wish I could donate. The rules have gotten so strict, which is good. So many people I know can't donate because of foriegn travel.