Red Cross warns blood supply is running low

La Plata church to host drawing next week

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

But Southern Maryland American Red Cross officials warn that the region does not have a good supply of some blood types and the need for people to donate is urgent.

There is less than a half a day supply of O negative blood in Southern Maryland and only a one-day supply of B negative, said Mike Zabko, executive director of the Southern Maryland chapter of the American Red Cross in La Plata.

There is an urgent need to maintain a five- to seven-day supply of any given blood type — a situation the area has experienced since the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, he said.

"We've been fighting this battle for years now," he said. "We can never make it to a solid five- to seven-day reserve of blood. People aren't donating. Eighty percent of the people expect the other 20 percent to take care of them."

Civista Medical Center in La Plata currently has an adequate supply of B negative and O negative blood but hospital officials are keeping a wary eye on the supply to make sure that the facility's blood bank remains stocked, said Linda Kandel, the hospital's director of marketing and planning.

"We very, very rarely get a patient who needs B negative blood," she said. "O blood is universal so it can be used for everybody. The B type blood has been challenging but right now it's not a problem. There's no patient who has B blood that we couldn't accommodate.

"We're dealing with it," she added. "We're monitoring the situation very closely."

The Southern Maryland chapter regularly holds blood drives in the region but the number of pints of donated blood never reaches the goal the organization sets for the drives, Zabko said. For example, in May the chapter wanted to collect 182 pints of blood in Charles County but only 135 pints were donated.

"People show up at the blood drives but we never collect the quantity that we need," he said.

Summer is traditionally a difficult time to get folks to roll up their sleeves and donate blood, Zabko said.

"It's cyclic; in the summer people aren't thinking about donating blood," he said. "They expect the blood to be there when they go to the hospital. Unfortunately there may be a situation where blood is not available."

Another tornado similar to the storm that nearly wiped out La Plata in April 2002 or a huge vehicular accident on one of the county's crowded roadways could tip the scale to zero for some blood types at local hospitals, Zabko said.

If a certain type of blood runs out at Civista, St. Mary's Hospital in Leonardtown or Calvert Memorial Hospital in Prince Frederick the Greater Chesapeake and Potomac Blood Services Region of the American Red Cross in Chesapeake, Va., would scramble to find a supply but that will cut another area short of blood, he said.

"We can ask them for the needed blood but that will create a deficit in areas that have the same needs that we do," he said. "It would be like a domino effect."

To qualify to donate blood folks must be 16 or older, be generally in good health, weigh at least 110 pounds, have not received a tattoo within the past year and have not donated blood within the past 56 days, according to the Southern Maryland chapter's Web site.

Like many other nonprofit organizations the Red Cross is in need of volunteers and monetary donations, as well, Zabko said.

"It's a sign of the times," he said. "People are getting paid positions rather than volunteering so that they can put food on the table."

The Southern Maryland chapter responds to about 100 disasters every year, including fires and floods, Zabko said, adding the organization currently has 50 to 100 volunteers spread throughout Charles, St. Mary's and Calvert counties.

Among other things, the organization sets folks up at a local motel when their house is burned down and gives them supplies such as clothing until they get back on their feet.

"This chapter needs a transfusion of time and money; blood isn't the only thing that we're short of lately," he said. "Requests for services have increased but there's been no increase in donations or volunteers."

nmcconaty@somdnews.com