Blood
work: voluntarism that comes from your heart
By
Mike Kroll
Anyone reading a daily newspaper during the last two
weeks of horrible winter weather no doubt noticed the Òsky is fallingÓ articles
about the great blood shortage. You probably feared for your personal safety or
that of a loved one should they have an accident or require surgery while blood
was critically short. Well you can rest assured that this was never a problem
for either of the two Galesburg hospitals or those in the Quad Cities or even
Canton, Macomb, or Monmouth because their blood supplier can proudly boast of
never failing to provide necessary blood to its partner hospitals throughout a
33-year history in the blood supply business. The Mississippi Valley Regional
Blood Center, headquartered in Davenport, is the exclusive source of blood
products for all the hospitals listed above and many more across the 45
counties in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri that it serves.
ÒI don't want to give the wrong impression here, the
bad weather has reduced our collection of blood and therefore our inventories
but we have never failed to meet the needs of our partner hospitals,Ó explained
Brenda Lehr who coordinates mobile blood collection efforts for MVRBC-served
counties surrounding Galesburg. According to Lehr her organization collects
about half of its blood donations from fixed centers scattered across the
region and half from mobile blood drives held in high schools, colleges,
churches and businesses in the service area. ÒMany of the miracles of modern
medicine would not be possible without a reliable blood supply and helping to
insure that supply is my job.Ó
MVRBC is one of many regional blood centers that have
grown across the country in competition with the American Red Cross that
historically has collected blood for decades but many local hospitals have a
history of quietly running their own blood collection efforts as well. In 2006
MVRBC collected more than 120,000 units of blood and can proudly boast that 99
percent of that blood was actually used. This is no minor accomplishment since
the shelf-life of red blood cells is only 42 days. This is possible because of
how closely each hospital's blood supply is monitored and the resource sharing
system that MVRBC participates in with other regional blood centers. As older
blood approaches the end of its shelf life it is sent to urban hospitals in
city's like Chicago where blood usage is much higher. Conversely, when
inventories are low locally this same system helps cover all the area blood
needs.
ÒThis resource sharing arrangement was critical to
many people who suffered through the Gulf coast hurricanes,Ó noted Lehr. ÒAreas
of Louisiana and Mississippi went for months without any local blood collection
but with a great need for blood supply and other centers such as ours helped
them out. Nearly all of the time we have been fortunate to be self-sufficient
in meeting the blood needs of our hospitals but participating in a system like
this means that there will should be a shortage of blood at one of our partner
hospitals. It is important for people to remember that people who need blood
cannot get it any other way than from blood donors and each of us never knows
when someone precious to us might have such a need.Ó
Since 2000 both Galesburg hospitals have received all
of their blood products from MVRBC and the arrangement seems to be working
well. Brenda has been at her current job for two years in an area that MVRBC
still sees as Òdeveloping the culture of blood donation.Ó Her goal is to make
it the norm for people to donate blood and she has her work cut out for her.
Estimates are that 60 percent of adults over 16 are eligible to donate blood
but a mere five percent actually do so. There are dozens of reasons people give
why they cannot donate blood, most of which are due to false or mistaken
assumptions. That is why Brenda helped organize blood drives at 93 area high
schools in 2006 and plans to hit even more this year.
ÒWe want our young people to see regular blood
donation as an easy and important contribution they can make to their
community. In Illinois anyone over 17 who is in generally good health and
weighs at least 110 pounds should be eligible to donate blood and if you are 16
and meet the other conditions you can also donate with parental permission.
When you donate either at one of our fixed sites or a mobile blood drive our
staff nurses always check over your computerized answers to a simple health
survey and are ready to answer any questions that might arise. On the average
our donors presently give blood once or twice a year but we would love to raise
that frequency. You can donate every 56 days or about eight times annually but
were aiming to raise our average to three times annually. Our database keeps
track of donations and if someone donates three or more times in a twelve month
period we will provide a recognition gift as a Loyal Donor. By now almost
everyone should know that donating blood is completely safe. Most of our staff
is dedicated to safely and comfortably collecting blood from our donors and we
insure the safety of our recipients by thoroughly testing each and every blood
donation.Ó
MVRBC is no small organization with 300 employees and
about the same number of volunteers they serve a large region. The blood center
estimates that it must average at least 400 units of blood collected daily to
meet the needs of its service area hospitals. Brenda plays her part by
arranging mobile collections where they can get a minimum of 20 units but
always hope for more. Galesburg area donors can simply show up at their local
facility at 555 N Kellogg Street during regularly scheduled donation times on
Monday and Tuesday afternoons, 1:30-6pm; the first and third Saturday and the
second Friday of each month 7-11am. Brenda would love you to stop by, donate
some blood and eat some great soup and let her help you establish a personal
tradition of blood donation.
2/22/07