Saturday, August 21, 1999
Blood supplies dwindling
Hoxworth 'concerned' by holiday
BY TIM BONFIELD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Last week's emergency blood appeal was successful enough to defuse a crisis, but the turnout was so weak that Greater Cincinnati still faces a serious blood-supply problem.
Hoxworth Blood Center remains “very concerned” about blood supplies for the Labor Day weekend, said spokeswoman Marsha Terry.
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WHERE TO GIVE
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Hoxworth runs seven neighborhood collection sites, in Anderson, Blue Ash, Corryville, downtown Cincinnati, Fort Mitchell, Ky., Springdale and Westwood. Dates and hours vary.
Hoxworth Bloodmobiles will visit several Tristate businesses locations in the next few weeks. Some of those drives will be open to walk-up donors:
• 2-8 p.m. Aug. 26, St. Luke Hospital East, Fort Thomas.
• 2:30-8 p.m. Aug. 27, Batavia Fire and Rescue, 490 W. Main St.
• 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Aug 27, the Home Depot, Florence.
For information: call 451-0910.
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Long-term, even deeper concerns remain about whether Cincinnati's blood bank can ever reach stable, self-sustaining levels.
Hoxworth declared its second emergency appeal of the summer on Aug. 9; the first time in several years that the blood bank has faced shortages so close together.
While donations surged during the first part of the week-long appeal, the turnout for the last three days was dismal. On Aug. 13, 14 and 16 Hoxworth collected no more than 258 units per day — well below what the blood bank needs to collect on a regular, non-emergency day.
The good news: The early surge was enough to eliminate the shortfall in Type O blood that triggered the crisis. The bad news: Donation patterns immediately returned to the levels that caused the crisis in the first place.
“We need continued support from the community, especially from those people who have never given or haven't given for a couple of years,” Ms. Terry said.
Weak turnout at corporate and community “mobile” blood drives both aggravated and illustrated the Tristate blood supply problem.
During the week of the emergency appeal, several companies, churches and community groups had scheduled visits from Hoxworth's three Bloodmobiles and two mobile blood-collection teams. Hox worth contacted all those groups to urge increased turnout during the emergency.
Several companies reponded. For example, collections at Setco Sales Co. and Pabco Fluid Power Co. came in at 144 percent and 120 percent of their original goals.
Overall, however, mobile drives failed to hit their target for the week.
Two business sites had four donors show up; another had 11. One first-time community drive was a total failure — a Hoxworth team waited all day without a single donor giving blood.
So why aren't people giving? Many are squeamish, and some, incorrectly, fear they can catch diseases from giving blood. Some have tried giving blood, only to quit because they felt light-headed or sick afterward.
Even when willing to give, many can't because of a growing list of medical restrictions.
Beyond the obvious restrictions for people with AIDS, hepatitis or other blood-borne diseases, would-be donors get temporary or permanent deferrals for having a cold, taking antibiotics, taking the hair-growth drug Propecia, or having a recent tattoo or body piercing.
Health officials say corporate downsizing has cut into the potential donor pool at some large companies.
A national survey conducted last year for America's Blood Centers revealed than fewer than 50 percent of those polled had ever given blood during their lifetimes.
People who have coordinated successful corporate blood drives say the value of peers or co-workers making a personal plea to give blood cannot be underestimated.
“People seem to need to be asked,” said John Boone, vice president of Citibank Kentucky, a Florence company that runs successful blood drives.
“People put a lot of barriers and restraints around themselves, and not just about giving blood,” Mr. Boone said.
“Personally, I'm afraid of needles, but I give every time. You just have to overcome it.”
Whatever the reasons for not giving, no-shows at the local blood drive cause expensive problems for Hoxworth.
Hoxworth relies on companies and groups to supply fairly accurate lists of people signed up to give blood. The blood bank uses projected numbers from those drives along with a daily average from its seven neighborhood collection centers to project how many units will be collected in coming weeks.
Whenever the projections come in lower than the 300 units a day that Hoxworth needs, the blood bank starts trying to buy blood from other cities.
Such shortfalls are happening on a regular and more frequent basis. Hoxworth spent $1.5 million in the past year — up more than 20 percent from the year before — buying blood from other cities because local donations couldn't keep up with demand.
When mobile blood drives don't hit their targets, it increases the need for Hoxworth to go public with emergency appeals.
Hoxworth does not like declaring “emergencies,” Ms. Terry said. Officials are well aware that every time they call on the public to respond to a crisis, it makes it that much harder to get response the next time.
The proposed solution for stabilizing Cincinnati's blood supply is to build up turnout at mobile drives so that Hoxworth won't need to declare emergencies.
Hoxworth supporters launched a new business campaign in July to encourage better turnout.
To fully meet local demand, Hoxworth needs to collect at least 78,000 units of blood a year. Greater Cincinnati's population is about 1.8 million.
That breaks down to a need for one donor from every 23 residents. In baseball terms, Greater Cincinnati needs a .043 batting average to avoid declaring emergencies or paying to import blood.
There is no acceptable reason why Greater Cincinnati cannot meet its own blood-supply needs, Mr. Boone said.
“It takes commitment and some planning, but it doesn't take a lot of planning,” Mr. Boone said. “In my experience, whenever something is unsuccessful, it was because there wasn't a process in place to MAKE it successful.”
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