“When seconds count in emergency trauma situations, it’s the blood already on the shelves that can make a difference in lifesaving care.” – Dr. Ross Herron, divisional chief medical officer for the American Red Cross.
Well, the shelves are getting bare, and the seconds are ticking away. The Red Cross is experiencing a severe blood shortage right now, and is offering a $5 Amazon gift card to anyone who gives a pint of blood before June 30.
The country’s leading source of blood for trauma cases, organ transplants and elective surgeries — all on the rise significantly this year — is drying up, in large part, because people are afraid of needles.
“To get the blood out, you have to stick a needle in, and for some reason that brings fear with many people when the reality is it’s like someone pinching you, and in less than a second it’s done,” says Tom Rochefort, board chair of the American Red Cross Northern Valley Chapter.
Blood is perishable and cannot be stockpiled, so the supply must constantly be replenished.
Tom’s been doing his part to replenish it for close to 55 years. He’s going to be 70 this year, and has a donor card from every city he’s lived in. He grew up watching his father, Conrad, proudly pull out his donor card from his wallet showing he was a member of the elite 8-gallon donor club.
That was back in the Greatest Generation days when most Americans carried their donor cards in their wallets, right next to their Social Security card. They were replaced with credit cards by the Baby Boom Generation.
When he turned 16, and was old enough to give blood himself, Tom walked in the house one day, and showed his dad his donor card with one pint on it.
“He was so happy and proud. We really bonded that day. His example motivated me to become a regular donor, too,” Tom says.
Motivation, keep an eye on that word. It’s awfully powerful.
Last weekend, Tom went to give blood at the Red Cross donor center in Pasadena with his 45-year-old nephew, Richard Mikaeli, whom Tom and his wife raised as a child.
Tom was the father Richard never had, and they became very close. “I’d watch him come home after giving blood feeling so good about what he had just done,” Richard says.
So, for this Father’s Day, Richard joined the man who was like a father to him to give his first pint of blood.”It didn’t hurt at all,” he says, knowing now the feeling Tom, and his dad, Conrad, had coming home after giving blood.
They didn’t know where it was going, but they knew it would help someone lying in a hospital bed who needed it, maybe someone fighting for their life.
“The Red Cross is going to see a lot more of me from now on,” Richard says.
Motivation, it may well be the key to finally ending this unfounded fear that somehow giving blood hurts. Tom wants to start a program in our elementary schools where adults the kids trust — parents, popular teachers, coaches — are on stage in the school auditorium giving blood.
Showing the kids how it’s done, step by step, and that it doesn’t hurt. It’s a pinch, then it’s gone. He wants to motivate them now so when they’re older and able to give blood, they won’t be afraid.
It only takes an hour of your time to fill up those nearly empty shelves, an hour every few months to maybe save a life. Certainly that’s worth more than a $5 Amazon gift card.
Donors of all blood types — especially type O and those giving platelets — are urged to make an appointment to give as soon as possible. Visit redcrossblood.org, or call 1-800-733-2767.
Dennis McCarthy’s column runs on Sunday. He can be reached at dmccarthynews@gmail.com.