Donations needed as summer nears

By Sarah Donaldson and Gabriella Canales

Eagle Staff Writers

A sharp decrease in blood donations in Western Pennsylvania over the past decade has left local organizations scrambling to fight what they believe could become a community health crisis.

Charlie Wilcox, the northeast division president of Vitalant, a nonprofit blood transfusion organization, has watched this downward trend firsthand.

“Blood donations are shrinking everywhere,” Wilcox said. “Everybody is feeling the pinch.”

But Wilcox believes the region is being hit the hardest. While Vitalant has seen a decrease in donations over the past 10 years, it's become a pressing issue recently because the organization is struggling to meet local needs for blood products.

“Health care systems are seeing it firsthand,” Wilcox said. “When we shortchange them blood, they feel it.”

Butler Memorial Hospital is just one of the hospitals in the area that receives its blood products from Vitalant.

From January to April, Butler Memorial Hospital used a total of 2,015 blood products, which is about 126 blood products per week, according to Vitalant.

The director of the lab confirmed that Butler Memorial Hospital receives more than 200 blood products per month, said Jana Panther, the director of public relations for the Butler Health System.

No surgeries or procedures have been canceled because of a lack of blood supplies, Panther said.

The hospital, however, recognizes how important blood donors are and encourages everyone to continue donating blood.

One trend Vitalant has seen contribute to the decrease is the lack of millennial-aged donors. He said baby boomers have acted as the backbone of donations in the past four decades, but the generation is aging and moving from the role of blood donor to blood user.

Requirements of people who want to donate can also limit the donor pool. For example, someone who has gotten a tattoo at an unlicensed parlor has to wait a year to donate. In Pennsylvania, however, there are no licensing policies for tattoo parlors, effectively deferring anyone who has gotten a tattoo in the state in the past 12 months.

Wilcox said that Vitalant is doing everything it can to raise awareness, but the organization hasn't seen a “rush for the door” when it comes to donating.

Blood donations are vital in the summer, said Mary Rogers, executive director of The American Red Cross of West Central Pennsylvania, which is part of the 50-county Western Pennsylvania Region and serves more than 650,000 people in Beaver, Butler, Clarion, Lawrence, Mercer and Venango counties.

The amount of donors lessens as schools let out for the summer and people go on vacation, she said.

“Unfortunately, many accidents happen in the summer (for) which blood is needed,” Rogers said. “It's vital to everyone that there's an adequate blood supply available.”

If a person cannot give blood, they can still volunteer or encourage someone else to give a blood donation, she said.

Locally, there are several options for people who are interested in donating blood.

The Butler Donation Center is open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from noon to 7 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. It is located inside the Butler Health Systems building.

“We need more people to begin a lifelong habit of donating blood,” Wilcox said.

January to April 2019Butler Memorial Hospital usageRed blood cells: 1,356Single donor platelets: 188Plasma: 88Cryoprecipitate, or cryo, a frozen blood product prepared from blood plasma: 383Total: 2,015 all above blood productsButler Donation Center collectionsRed blood cells: 558Single donor platelets: 111Plasma: 64SOURCE: Vitalant

WHEN: June 7 from 12:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.WHERE: Clearview Mall on the first floor by JCPenney, 101 Clearview CircleNOTE: Annual promo drive for Big Butler FairWHEN: June 13 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.WHERE: Butler Memorial Hospital in the Nixon Sarver room (Tower Entrance), 1 Hospital WayNOTE: Walk in donors are welcome. Participants will receive a shirt or water bottle.Here are other upcoming blood drives in the area:4 June 12 at Grace Church of Harmony, 538 Main St., Harmony4 June 24 at Honda North, 665 Evans City Road4 Aug. 2 at Cooper’s Lake, 148 Currie Road, Slippery Rock4 Aug. 5 at Cooper’s Lake, 148 Currie Road, Slippery Rock4 Aug. 20 at St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 201 W. Jefferson St.4 Oct. 22 at St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 201 W. Jefferson St.NOTE: For more information, visit redcrossblood.org. Walk-ins are welcome or call 800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767) for availability.