Health & Fitness: Wanted: New blood Health & Fitness: Wanted: New blood (April 13, 2005)

Blood banks are trying to recruit new regular donors in attempt to stem chronic shortage

By John Flood

Special to the Almanac

One can bask in the satisfaction of giving through a number of activities -- from sending off a check to an nonprofit organization to volunteering time and energy for a charitable cause.

But when many people try to figure out which causes they can afford to support through charitable donations, they fail to consider a gift that costs them nothing but about 45 minutes of their time, yet has a direct impact on another person's life: the gift of blood.

And that oversight, say blood bank officials, creates an ongoing problem for hospitals across the country.

"The Bay Area exists in a chronic blood shortage," says Lisa Bloch, media relations manager for Blood Centers of the Pacific.

"There have been cases when surgeries had to be postponed or rescheduled because of blood shortages at San Francisco hospitals. When it gets bad, we ration it."

According to the Blood Centers of the Pacific, 60 percent of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood, but only 5 percent do so. And the results speak for themselves.

Acute shortages occur during winter, when the holidays and the flu season affect donor levels, she explains. And blood bank officials say we're heading into another dry season: During the summer, there are fewer donors because core donor groups from schools and businesses are on vacation.

"A small number of donors are shouldering a big burden," Ms. Bloch says. "There is a tremendous need for blood in our local hospitals."

For those who give, the rewards are immediate. "Donating blood is a unique way of volunteering," Ms. Bloch says. "You are truly giving of yourself. Within 72 hours, it's going to three different patients."
Young blood needed

With the ranks of an older generation of blood donors in decline, the first national campaign to attract younger donors on campuses began on February 14.

Stanford University was among 16 colleges and universities across the nation chosen to participate in the "Bloodsaves" campaign, which officially launched its blood donor drive on February 28.

While the results of the Stanford campaign were lower than expected, the "Bloodsaves" campaign will continue, says Michele Hyndman, public relations manager at the Stanford Blood Center.

"This was the first campaign for students," she explains, "and with this generation, there is so much going on ... the academic pressure, and so many good causes that compete for their attention."

But Stanford center officials will continue trying to increase students' awareness of the need for blood donations, and of the concrete results from such a gift.

"It's not easy to save the world," says Ms. Hyndman, "but it's easy to save a life. We're trying to tell students that it's easy to go to the blood center and have an immediate impact."
Quiet heroes

Father Martin Mager, 70, of Portola Valley, has donated blood more than 200 times.

"I donated blood for the first time in the 1950s, when I was in college," says Father Martin, a Roman Catholic priest who is a teacher, chaplain and the director of alumni affairs at Woodside Priory School.

Today, he donates platelets, the small blood cells that control bleeding and assist in the clotting process. Platelets are usually provided to burn victims and cancer patients.

"I knew someone who was a serious burn victim. I was told that donating platelets was something that I could do and that it would help."

Since the process of giving platelets, called apheresis, takes two hours, Father Martin has time to reflect during the procedure, he says.

"They once told me that I had the same platelets that a child needed. When you know that it is for someone in particular, it certainly makes you realize how important it is. I try to imagine who that person is."
Filling a need

For Dick Tagg, 77, of Woodside, it all started 33 years ago when he learned that children with leukemia needed white blood cells at the Children's Hospital at Stanford.

"The apheresis procedure was much more primitive back then, and not too many kids survived leukemia," says Mr. Tagg, a retired geologist for the U.S. Geologic Survey in Menlo Park.

"We saw the children at the hospital, and they seemed fine. But the next time we saw them, they'd be bald. And next time, they were in a wheelchair with an IV. They were the same age as our kids. It was hard."

Four hundred, forty-four donations later, Mr. Tagg keeps on giving every two weeks.

"Donating platelets is what needs to be done, and this is what I do to contribute."
Family legacy

For Tami Turner of Menlo Park, donating blood has strong family ties.

"I picked up my father's cause of donating blood 20 years ago," says the 47-year-old mother of two. "And I'm pleased that my daughter became a donor when she was 17."

"Donating is a passion of mine," she says. And she backs that statement up with action: Ms. Turner has donated blood 160 times.

"My father fought in Korea and always gave blood," she says. "He did it out of a sense of duty and community."

Ms. Turner first gave blood after the death of her father, Roger J. Turner, in 1985.

"After he passed away, I asked myself, who's going to do that now that he's gone?"

Ms. Turner recalls that, when she was a child, she was impressed that her father closed his Menlo Park shop, Shaw's Fine Candies and Ice Cream, one hot summer afternoon when the hospital called him. He didn't even think about the lost business, she notes.

"We have a whole generation of donors who are dying and no one to replace them," she says. "It's sad that people today don't have a greater sense of community. There's a huge untapped group that could give."

"Donors are quiet heroes, and they are literally saving lives for people that they'll never meet, and there are not enough of them," says Lisa Bloch. "If we could get them to commit to twice a year, it would solve our blood shortage problems."

One pint, many uses

The simple act of giving a pint of blood produces a procession of benefits.

Some of the most common uses for blood donations include critical care for automobile accident victims; bone marrow and organ transplant patients; burn victims; and heart surgery patients.

In most cases, the original pint of blood has been separated into different components: plasma, platelets, and red blood cells.

Three people can benefit from one pint of blood.

Are there risks?

For the first-time donor, concerns about the safety of donating blood are natural, blood bank officials note. But the risk, they say, is non-existent.

"It's impossible to get infected from donating blood," says Lisa Bloch of the Blood Centers of the Pacific.

"The tube, the needle and the bag (are) used once and discarded," she says. "It's incredibly safe.

"There's a slight pinch when the needle goes in. There's no discomfort after that."

How to donate

Who's eligible: Anyone who is in good health; at least 17 years old; and weighs at least 110 pounds.
Where to donate:

Stanford Blood Center

780 Welch Road, Suite #100 Palo Alto 888-723-7831 www.bloodcenter.stanford.edu
Blood Centers of the Pacific 260 Main Street, Suite C Redwood City 888-393-4483 www.bloodcenters.org

Blood facts

** There is no substitute for human blood. ** 4.5 million Americans would die annually without blood donations. ** One pint of blood can help up to three patients. ** Donated red blood cells must be used within 42 days of collection. ** Donated platelets must be used within five days of collection.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.