Nonprofit blood services provider Vitalant is alerting the public today – World Blood Donor Day – to help reverse a critical blood shortage by making an appointment to give in the coming days and weeks. Donors of all blood types are needed.
With the number of new donors down sharply by 12% year over year, new donors and those that haven’t given in a while are especially needed. Hundreds of appointments over the next few weeks remain unfilled across Reno and Northern Nevada. There is a critical need for donors with the most transfused blood type O, which has recently dipped to about half of the desired four-day supply, and platelet donors, whose donations must be used within a week of donation.
“Every time you donate you help ensure a patient’s lifesaving treatment doesn’t have to be put on hold,”
said Vitalant Chief Medical and Scientific Officer Dr. Ralph Vassallo. “When patient needs consistently outpace donors scheduling appointments, chances are higher a leukemia patient won’t be able to get their regular transfusion, or a transplant recipient will have their surgery delayed.”
In April and May, Vitalant collected about 13,000 fewer blood donations compared to the year prior.
When there’s a high-profile emergency, people will drop what they’re doing to donate but there are many reasons patients need transfusions that don’t grab news headlines. It’s the blood already on the shelves that helps patients when tragedy strikes but an adequate supply also has to be ready to provide for the individual needs of patients that arise every day - the cancer treatment, the accident victim, the transplant patient. Making an appointment to donate tomorrow or next week will help ensure those needs can be met.
Benefits of donating blood are a mini-physical and full panel of tests each donor receives. The mini-physical check of pulse, blood pressure, hemoglobin and cholesterol can be tracked with each visit in the donor’s secure and confidential online account.
Appointments are encouraged. Please visit vitalant.org, use the Vitalant app or call 877-25-VITAL (877-258-4825) to secure your spot to save lives. Vitalant like many organizations is experiencing staffing shortages therefore appointments are needed to allow us to manage the donor flow and ensure available staff can serve donors. Donor care staff undergo specific and rigorous training to meet regulatory requirements. We are currently training new staff members and welcome applicants interested in lifesaving professions.
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