Blood drives set up to alleviate critical blood shortage
Sydney Roker, Staff Writer
On Jan. 17, the American Red Cross declared a national blood crisis for the first time in history. Since March of 2020 there has been a sharp decline in blood donations. A large part of this decline is due to the drop in school blood drives, which were a significant contributor to the national blood supply. The situation is so severe that the Red Cross, which provides almost half of the nation’s blood supply, recently said that they had less than a one day supply of critical blood types. Hospitals must now ration blood products and make extremely difficult decisions as to who should receive blood. Some hospitals have even had to fully shut down, including the Harbor-UCLA’s Medical Center, which closed its doors for the first time in 30 years.
In response to this blood shortage crisis, blood drives have been set up all over the country to try and encourage Americans to donate blood. In the past, Samo organized two blood drives each year with UCLA Health in the South Gym. Due to COVID-19, blood drives at Samo have not been held since November of 2019. A tentative blood drive is planned for April 28, granted that Samo lifts their no visitors rule.
“We’ve been doing [blood drives with UCLA] for about eight years and the COVID-19 pandemic significantly hindered that relationship, but we’ve been trying to promote blood drives if they have them in the community,” Sarah Paulis, Samo’s director of activities said.
Many community blood drives are held by the American Red Cross. The American Red Cross has been a prominent organizer of blood drives for decades, and is currently holding blood drives at multiple locations. In order to donate blood at any of the American Red Cross’ locations, a donor must be over 16 years old and weigh at least 110 pounds, be in good health and have parental consent if they are under the age of 18. A blood donation usually takes up to an hour, and appointments can be found on the Red Cross website. On average, there are appointments available across Santa Monica every two to three days, including at the Santa Monica Chapter of the Red Cross and at the YMCA. Jaxson Lockwood (’23) mentions the importance of donating blood.
“The blood shortage affects everyone’s lives differently especially when a loved one needs a transfusion. I do plan on giving soon because it’s another way of helping others, which is something really important to me,” Lockwood said.
Amidst the news of the current blood shortage, the FDA has received criticism over their strict donor restrictions on LGBTQ+ men. In April of 2020, the FDA changed the abstinence requirement from 12 months to three months prior to donation, however some critics think that this change does not go far enough and believe that these restrictions should be further loosened, especially due to the fact that all blood donations are tested for multiple infectious diseases and the fact that straight men do not have any restrictions. Researchers at UCLA say that lifting these restrictions could lead to at least an additional 345 pints of blood annually.
Despite the seemingly dire blood shortage crisis, the Red Cross and other healthcare organizations are hopeful that American citizens will answer the call to donate blood and help pull the country out of its first blood crisis.
“It is one of the most powerful forms of community service where someone can roll up a sleeve and help save the life of another individual,” Celena Roldan, CEO of the Illinois American Red Cross said.
