07/05/07 Blood Shortage

Blood Shortage. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Every year about this time the American Red Cross starts pushing for more blood donors. Why? Because this is when most people are on vacation, spending more time out doors and simply not thinking about donating blood. Last week, the Red Cross here in the Pacific Northwest issued a Red Alert, meaning that blood supplies were reaching a critical point according to Claire Matthias, Communications and Marketing Director. MATTHIAS: Last week the Red Cross in the Pacific Northwest was on Red Alert and what that means is that we were down to less that half a days supply of several blood types including O Negative and O Positive which are the universal blood types that we use the most in trauma situations so that's pretty dire. Fortunately Matthias says the supply has eased somewhat. MATTHIAS: We're kind of on yellow alert now. We've seen some increased collections because we're gotten the word out about the red alert. And if it were a normal week I'd say we'd probably be crawling back up to okay but it's the Fourth of July holiday week and this is traditionally a really hard week for us to get donors to come in. So we are anticipating that we are going to be running short again coming out of this week. The Pacific Northwest Red Cross serves 80 plus hospitals in Oregon, Washington and SE Alaska. Due to the low numbers of donors, Matthias says they are resorting to some unusual tactics. MATTHIAS: From now until Sunday, July 8th, anybody that comes in to donate blood or platelets at any of our blood drives or donor centers will get entered into a drawing to win one of three prizes. We're giving away a 42-inch LG plasma screen TV, a full size outdoor gas grill and a Weber charcoal barbeque grill. We're hoping that will be kind of exciting and give people a little extra reason to come in over the holiday week. The prizes have been donated by the Red Cross board of directors. Matthias says it's crucial that they remain prepared in case.. MATTHIAS: The need for blood never takes a holiday. And in fact sometimes we see the need for blood go up around the holidays when there are more people on the road, then a corresponding increase in traffic accidents and traumas so it's really critical that we stay prepared. And I guess that's the big issue right now is that when we see the blood supply get down to a half day or a days supply of any one type it's really hard for us to be prepared. Call your local Red Cross chapter for more information on where and when to donate. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.