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| Surviving 'the toughest months' By Greg Thomas [ greg@hmbreview.com ] Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, December 3, 2008 2:40 PM PST This holiday season, people with lighter pocketbooks can donate something more than money. They can give blood. On Dec. 10, Seton Medical Center Coastside in Moss Beach is hosting an afternoon blood drive to help compensate for wintertime donation shortages. “This is quite a precarious time of year for us,” said Lisa Bloch, Blood Centers of the Pacific spokeswoman. “We need as much as we can get. December and January are the toughest months.” Seasonal illnesses, extended vacations and school breaks all staunch the flow of blood from loyal donors to patients in need of the precious commodity this time of year, Bloch said. Workers at Blood Centers have come to expect a 35 percent dip during winter months. Most of the decrease is attributable to less blood imported from out-of-state sources. The fact that schools are out of session also cuts into donations. To encourage donations during this season’s predicated drought, Blood Centers are taking to the road in an RV-sized “bloodmobile” for a 600-stop tour at medical centers around the Bay Area throughout December and January. “I think they realized they weren’t having a huge, overwhelming turnout,” said Debbie Negri, a clinical scientist in the Hospital Laboratory at Seton Coastside. “I think, in particular, people who haven’t donated before – this will get them started because they don’t have to travel outside the coast.” Walk-in donors, typically turned away at blood banks, are a welcomed source of blood in critical dry months. Potential donors are surveyed on the spot for information pertaining to their medical background, travel history and any body art. If they are accepted – and roughly 60 percent of participants are, Bloch said – they must undergo tests of their blood pressure, temperature and iron levels. People who qualify can donate up to a pint in one sitting. The whole process takes about an hour, Bloch said. Blood runs thin in winter months due to the drop-off in reliable donors, but there tends to be higher demand as well. Traffic accidents spike with shorter days, seasonal rains and holiday drinking, Bloch said, which puts strain on supplies everywhere. “Victims of trauma, people undergoing cancer treatments, new mothers and their babies, people undergoing surgeries or organ transplants (and) patients with blood diseases who rely on blood regularly,” all feel the pinch, Bloch said. “We need all types, all the time.” The blood drive at Seton Coastside will run 2 to 6 p.m. in the parking lot at the center. Last year, a similar blood drive rendered only five eligible donors in four hours. “Donating blood, I try to tell people, we assume that someone else is doing it,” Bloch said. “But there’s no substitute for human blood. It’s safe and it makes a real difference. Within 72 hours of donation, it’s tested and turned around and sent to a hospital. “If you can’t give money this year, give blood,” she said. “We truly, truly need it.” |