LOCAL BLOOD SUPPLIES IN KEEPING WITH U.S. TRENDS

The new millennium may bring more than computer problems as national blood researchers predict that blood supplies will fall short of meeting medical needs next year.

Despite these predictions, local experts do not believe such a crisis is easy to predict.

"I don't have a crystal ball," said Peggy Kitchen, supervisor of the American Red Cross blood bank in Cape Girardeau. "I see that it's (blood donations) declining but it's not like a stock market crash."

Nationally, blood donations have been steadily decreasing while the demand for transfusions has been increasing. If not reversed, these two conflicting trends will result in a blood shortage next year, according to the National Blood Data Resource Center in Bethesda, Md.

Locally, these trends hold true. Kitchen says that the amount of blood available in blood banks and the amount needed by hospitals changes on a daily basis. This makes it difficult to predict what could happen in the future. While not giving in to doom, she agrees that the demand outweighs the supply often enough for concern.

"We don't donate near as much as we use," she said. "I don't think people realize what it means until it hits home unfortunately."

Kitchen helps distribute blood to 28 hospitals in southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois. Those 28 hospitals receive an average of 30,000 units of blood each year. Both Southeast Missouri Hospital and St. Francis Medical Center receive blood from the distribution center.

"We try to keep 80 to 100 units of blood on hand," said Julie Wengert, of Southeast Missouri Hospital. "How much we use depends on the hospital's population."

While donations traditionally fall off in the summer, the need for blood actually increases during the warmer months.

"Summer is always bad," Wengert said. "Many of the college students are gone and they make up a huge pool of donors. That's also when the number of car accidents go up."

"What we're seeing right now is low donor turnout," said Shawnna Rhine, of the American Red Cross. "We're doing fine right now; we're not at a critical level but we are low."

Blood donated locally tends to be used locally. According to Rhine, 80 to 90 percent of the blood donated in the Cape Girardeau area is used here. Once collected, the donated blood must be sent to a national testing center in St. Louis.

There, it is tested for various diseases, such as HIV and hepatitis, and separated into four components to be distributed for use. These include packed red blood cells, platelets, fresh frozen plasma, and cryoprecipitates. All four are used for different purposes, such as helping blood clot. The blood is ready for distribution in three days.

"If at all possible, people should go out to the blood drives to donate," Wengert said. "They're not just helping one person; they're helping four people."

While technological advances have brought new surgical techniques, into the operating rooms, these advances also increase the need for blood supplies.

"The surgeries being performed today are more complicated and many of them take longer," Kitchen said.

Add the unpredictability of accidents and you have the recipe for disaster if blood supplies dip below a safe level.

"We wish we could make people understand the need," Kitchen said. "It's like we've cried wolf too often."

"It's harder to get people out to donate," she added. "We don't have a fixed site which makes it even harder."

Donors in our area must rely on blood drives to give blood. The Red Cross, 2430 Myra, only provides blood-drawing services on Mondays and these are strictly for personal collections or to donate for a friend facing surgery. Lack of room prevents them from being able to provide a fixed site. They conduct a blood drive at the Senior Citizen's Center on the last Wednesday of each month.