Why you should give blood this month
America is grappling with an extremely low level of blood donations. January is National Blood Donor Month for a reason − this time of year has significantly lower donations than other months. Cold and flu season is here, and people are urged to delay donating until they recover from such illnesses. Fewer donors are signing up to give blood, and medical providers have a greater need in the winter, especially as icy weather increases the risk of accidents that result in traumatic injury.
This year, January is looking even worse for blood donations as a post-pandemic collection slump puts centers on high alert.
👋 Nicole Fallert here, and welcome to Your Week, our newsletter exclusively for Paste BN subscribers (that's you!). This week, we talk with Paste BN health care reporter Ken Alltucker about his coverage on the national scarcity of blood bank donations.
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Why giving blood in January matters
Alltucker has written about blood banking, so the idea that January is a typically low donor month isn't new. But what surprised him this year was how post-pandemic conditions have tanked donations to more-than-typical January lows. So low that the American Red Cross has declared an "emergency" level of blood donations.
Blood donations to the Red Cross are scarce enough that the organization is unable to meet some hospital demands, he said. This means medical providers may be forced to allocate resources to run their own blood banks or limit health care services to preserve resources. Shortages may result in "cancellation of surgeries," including heart surgeries when hospitals and doctors don't believe they have enough blood to safely operate, a Red Cross spokesperson told Alltucker.
"People take for granted that hospitals and health providers will always have blood on hand in a traumatic situation or even during an operation," Alltucker said.
Other organizations Alltucker interviewed didn't use the word "emergency" to describe the situation this month, but they echoed the Red Cross's struggle to fulfill requests. Many of them haven't been able to fully ramp up donations since COVID-19 lockdowns, which temporarily shuttered onsite workplace and school blood drives that typically reached eligible healthy teens and young adults.
For young people who might not have donated before, there's a struggle to reach these potential donors and get them informed about how they can help. There's also little data on how these organizations distribute the blood among communities, but organizations said they distribute blood to areas where demand and need are greatest. These organizations said the need for donations is especially acute in communities of color, Alltucker said.
He included a list of organizations in his story so readers like you can find where to give blood. The goal is public awareness, he said.
"Only 3% of people donate blood, but 62% are eligible," he said. "There are a lot of people out there who can who don't."
Thank you
Alltucker's work demonstrates the commitment to covering national issues that is emblematic of Paste BN. Your support makes this work possible. Thank you for supporting our journalism with your subscription.
Best wishes,
Nicole Fallert