In less time than it takes you to watch your favorite sitcom, you could save up to three lives.
“Donating blood usually only takes about 15 minutes, and you get to sit in a comfy chair,” said Marisa Pacchiarotti, district community development director for LifeSouth Community Blood Centers. “And you get to leave knowing you just helped someone’s life.”
Blood banks across the country are experiencing a shortage. The American Red Cross collected close to 50,000 fewer blood donations than it needed over the last two months. Donations often slow during the summer, when many people are traveling.
Yet the need for donors continues to grow.
Pacchiarotti said only a fraction of those who can give blood do so on a regular basis.
“Of the 40% of people eligible to donate blood, only 3% give regularly, and about 10% give once a year,” she said. “Our big push is getting people to become regular blood donors.”
Unlike medications and other life-saving devices, blood cannot be produced in a lab or factory, Pacchiarotti said.
“Blood is as vital as any other resource, and it has to be given,” she said.
The need is so vast because 1 in 3 people will need a blood transfusion at some point in their lives, and a single car accident victim can need up to 100 pints of blood, according to OneBlood. Blood helps treat trauma patients, burn victims, and people with cancer and chronic diseases, according to the American Red Cross.
“Blood donation is such an easy way to make an impact in the community,” said Susan Forbes, senior vice president of corporate communications and public relations for OneBlood. “When you donate, you are helping give someone a second chance at life. There is no greater gift than to give someone’s life back.”
The donations that do come in get used quickly. Forbes said. If you donate in the morning, it gets tested that evening and is given to a patient within one or two days.
“Today’s donor is tomorrow’s hero,” she said. “You have the power to save someone’s life running through your veins.”
Often, more people give blood in the wake of large-scale emergencies like natural disasters, but Forbes said the blood supply needs to be replenished every day.
“In an instant, any one of us could be on the receiving end of a blood transfusion,” she said. “Don’t wait for an emergency to donate.”
The nation’s blood supply dropped drastically in 2020 at the start of the pandemic because of canceled blood drives and closed collection centers. Unfortunately, Forbes said, the supply has yet to bounce back from that deficit.
OneBlood’s donations go to more than 250 hospitals across the southeast. LifeSouth has a contract with UF Health, so its hospitals get their blood products, Pacchiarotti said.
Blood transfusions are one of the most common procedures in hospitals, so you could be helping a neighbor at any time.
“Of course, blood is needed for surgeries and after accidents, but there are patients like those with sickle cell anemia or patients going through cancer treatment who need regular, sometimes monthly, blood transfusions,” she said.
Sickle cell anemia is a lifelong disease that alters the shape of red blood cells, making it harder for people to absorb nutrients, and it can be painful. Chemotherapy destroys platelets, and patients often get blood and platelet transfusions during treatment.
Lee Ouellette, of the Village of Bonita, is a regular blood donor who gives every eight weeks — the shortest time period allowed between donations.
Ouellette has donated blood since he was a teenager and has given more than 30 gallons over the years.
“I guess now it’s just habitual, it’s nothing more than feeling good about the fact that perhaps I’m saving someone’s life,” he said. “There’s never a moment where I don’t think I’ll give blood. I’ll donate for as long as I can.”
Ouellette advises potential donors to eat well at least four hours before donating and stay hydrated before and after.
“It’s no worse than a really tough pinch, and it goes away pretty quickly,” he said. “Then you are on your way to helping people.”
Another benefit of donating blood is the health screening that comes with it.
“You get a mini physical,” Pacchiarotti said. “You get your heart rate and blood pressure, then a few days later you get your cholesterol and iron levels.”
You also are told your blood type, she said, which is something many people do not know about themselves.
“There are eight blood types and some are more rare than others,” she said. “If you find out you have a blood type that’s in high demand, it might make you more inclined to become a regular donor.”
Blood types can be complex, but Pacchiarotti tells patients it all comes down to what traits your body can accept.
The eight blood types are A positive, A negative, B positive, B negative, O positive, O negative, AB positive and AB negative. The three letters represent antigens — A, B and O. The O type blood shows an absence of either A or B antigens, and AB blood means both are present on red blood cells.
“The positive and negative aspects represent a protein called Rh factor,” Pacchiarotti said. “Positive blood types have this protein.”
Pacchiarotti said your blood type determines what other types of blood your body can accept. If you have A negative, for example, your body will only accept A negative or O negative blood types.
“Because O negative blood is absent both antigens and proteins, it is called the universal donor and it can be given to someone of any blood type,” Pacchiarotti said. “It also means it is the most requested by hospitals.”
During an emergency, doctors do not have time to type someone’s blood, so surgery rooms and ambulances need to be stocked with O negative blood.
“The blood supply is easily taken for granted,” Forbes said. “Somebody is depending on it — don’t wait to donate.”
Senior writer Maddie Cutler can be reached at 352-753-1119, ext. 5386, or [email protected].