As many University of Wisconsin students scurried to class in a gently falling snow last Friday, UW sophomore Lyndsey Schorr sat patiently waiting on a brown plastic chair on the third floor of Union South. Schorr had just finished registering at a folding table at the top of the stairs, and soon a nurse would come to take her into a large room where Schorr would perform a selfless act often overlooked by UW students: donating blood.
While few UW students would say they have ever saved anyone else’s life, every Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Union South, students have the opportunity to do just that by donating blood.
“You have to walk to class anyway, so it’s just one extra step from getting home,” Schorr said of the convenience of donating blood on campus, adding that she usually tries to donate once every three months.
Youngblood, the UW campus blood donation center, is an American Red Cross program that provides UW students, faculty and staff with an easy way to donate blood during the school year. Located in room 302 of Union South, Youngblood resumed its weekly schedule Jan. 22 just in time for the end of National Blood Donor Month. And with severe blood shortages plaguing the nation, Red Cross organizers are hoping students will think of others and donate blood this spring.
“This year we’ve seen a major decline in donations around the nation,” said Janna Lenz, media specialist with the Badger/Hawkeye chapter of the American Red Cross.
The American Red Cross, the American Association of Blood Banks and America’s Blood Centers are the three main national suppliers of blood. The American Red Cross alone supplies approximately 50 percent of the nation’s blood, according to Lenz. All three organizations issued a joint press release Jan. 12 urging individuals to donate blood and help alleviate the nation’s critically low blood supply.
The organizations reported in the release that the national inventory of blood has dropped “well below a safe and adequate supply,” and in certain areas of the country where critical blood types are nearing depletion, some patients have been asked to postpone or cancel their elective surgeries.
Although Madison and surrounding areas are not facing as crucial a blood shortage as some parts of the country, it is important that the blood supply be kept stable. According to UW Associate Professor of Medicine Malcolm Lindsay, University of Wisconsin medical centers, such as the trauma center and the cancer center, depend on a large supply of blood.
“We’re a fairly consistent high-volume user,” Lindsay said.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is also backing blood-bank organizations’ national appeal by encouraging everyone who is eligible to donate blood.
“The nation is facing critical shortages in communities across the country. If blood supplies do not immediately increase, patients, accident victims and those whose lives depend on regular transfusions are at risk for not getting the blood they need. Every eligible individual should give blood, if not for themselves, for their friends, their loved ones or their neighbors,” Tommy G. Thompson, Secretary of Health and Human Services, said in the press release.
Yet Schorr and the tens of other UW students in the Youngblood center last Friday need no encouragement.
“I give to help other people. And because I can, and because a lot of other people can’t and don’t. It’s all about other people,” UW senior and blood donor John Paul Kloiber said. Kloiber, who has donated at Youngblood several times before, brought a friend along to donate blood.
“It’s really quite painless,” UW freshman and fellow blood donor John Putzer said.
Schorr’s donation was effortless as well. Following a short wait after she registered, Schorr was guided into a blue booth, where she answered personal questions about her health and had a “mini-physical,” which included having her blood pressure and temperature checked and her finger pricked to measure her iron level. Once that was complete, Schorr took a seat in the blood donation room and waited for an open spot in one of the plastic lounge chairs where blood is taken. While she waited, she read a copy packet for one of her classes.
Youngblood was busy last week, with each of the six lounge chairs filled and a constant influx of donors arriving. Yet minutes after arriving in the blood-donation room, Schorr was reclining in a lounge chair, where a nurse swabbed her arm with iodine and inserted the needle. Schorr did not so much as flinch during the process.
“Once [the needle] goes in, I really don’t feel it at all,” Schorr said. “I think it hurts more when they poke your finger to test for your iron level than it does to actually give blood.”
Schorr squeezed a foam ball as she gave blood, and her nurse smiled and told Schorr she was “doing great.” Less than 15 minutes later, Schorr had given a full pint of blood. She then moved on to the canteen area to eat cookies and drink lemonade while chatting with other donors. When she had relaxed and enjoyed a few refreshments, Schorr put on her coat and headed for the door. Schorr said she was happy with how she had spent the past hour and was proud that her donation could save up to three lives.
“It makes you feel good,” Schorr said.
According to Youngblood’s team supervisor, Nancy Buck, the whole blood-donation process usually takes about an hour. There are four steps donors must go through when giving blood: registration at the blood-donation center, answering health-history questions, the actual donation of blood and spending time eating and drinking refreshments in the canteen to replenish fluids. Buck said each step should take approximately 15 minutes.
Yet not all blood donations go as smoothly as Schorr’s. UW sophomore Molly Snellman came to Youngblood and registered and filled out her patient history forms, only to discover when her finger was pricked that the level of iron in her blood was too low for her to give blood that particular day. Snellman said she has given blood three times and each time her iron level has been barely high enough for her to give blood.
“I don’t mind, but I’m bummed that I can’t give,” Snellman said.
Snellman added that although she could not give blood this time, she encourages others to give it a try.
“I think everyone who’s eligible should give. It’s not painful like most people think,” Snellman said.
According to the AABB, approximately 8 million volunteers donate blood each year in the United States. However, there are many more eligible Americans who do not give blood. Only 5 percent of the estimated 60 percent of eligible Americans donate blood, according to Lenz. She attributes this low turnout in part to the attitude of many Americans who think that they do not need to give blood because someone else will.
“I think Americans underestimate the national need for blood. And older Americans overestimate the number of people who give blood,” Lenz said.
Buck, the team supervisor at Youngblood, said although the number of students who donated blood last week at Youngblood was slightly higher than usual, there is still a need for more individuals to give. She encourages students to call Youngblood and make a donation appointment.
“We would love [the number of blood donors] to be 55-60 people each day, and certainly this campus has enough people to do that,” Buck said.
UW junior Meagan Cameron donated at Youngblood between classes last fall, and she said the process was quick and easy.
“It didn’t take a lot of time,” Cameron said. “It’s a good thing you can do in between classes instead of sitting there and doing nothing.”
According to Lenz, individuals can give blood every 56 days. Donors must be in general good health, weigh at least 110 pounds and be at least 17 years old. And, as both Lenz and Buck pointed out, a new Red Cross regulation mandates that donors must present a form of photo identification before they can give blood. Acceptable forms of identification include a driver’s license or a UW student ID.
Schorr said although she realizes donating blood is something not everyone can or is willing to do, she encourages students to at least give it a shot.
“It’s not for everyone, but there’s no harm in trying,” Schorr said.
Lenz agreed, adding that there is always a need for more blood donors.
“It’s an ongoing need, and it’s not going to go away,” Lenz said.
