Vacations and school breaks are hurting Arizona’s blood supply.
Sue Thew, communications manager for Vitalant, a nonprofit that supplies blood to hospitals across the state, said the supply of Type O blood, the most common, is at an 18-month low.
“You might be surprised to learn that teen donors are Arizona's largest blood donor group. So as soon as those school blood drives go on their summer recess, we see a tremendous drop in the number of blood donations that are coming in,” she said.
Thew said it takes about 600 donors every day to maintain the blood supply for the 62 hospitals that Vitalant serves. She understands firsthand the importance of donors.
“My dad had a heart attack on Christmas Eve, and he was rushed to the hospital during the most difficult week of the year to maintain blood supplies and required an emergency quadruple bypass surgery,” she said. “And in that time, during his surgery and the few weeks that followed, my dad required blood transfusions, 15 of them, red blood cells, plasma and platelets. And, you know, my dad lived another year and a half because of those blood donors," Thew said.
Type O is the universal blood type used in emergencies and surgeries. About 46% of people have Type O blood, according to Thew.
You can find information on how and where to donate at Vitalant’s website and the American Red Cross.
The American Red Cross, a nonprofit organization that provides emergency assistance, says about 40% of the United States’ blood and blood components come from volunteer donors and only about 3% of age-eligible people donate blood each year.
