The leader of the organization supplying blood to 80% of Iowa hospitals says there’s been a 30% decline in people under the age of 30 donating blood since 2020 and that’s a major challenge in maintaining an adequate supply.
Stacy Sime, CEO of LifeServe Blood Center, said they have about a two-to-three day supply of blood on hand today and that’s under the four-to-five-day supply that’s their target. “We’re really are encouraging people that haven’t donated blood before or who haven’t donated in a while to come in,” Sime said, “but we’d also ask you to consider asking those who are under 30 in your life to join you in donating because that is the group that we are really struggling with.”
Iowans may start donating blood at the age of 16, however 16 and 17 year olds must have a consent form signed by a parent to donate. Sime said blood drives in high schools last year generated 15,000 units of blood for LifeServe. “We actually run a scholarship program for the high schools where the high schools can actually earn scholarships for their students by hosting a blood drive,” Sime said, “so we’re really trying to encourage our young Iowans to get involved and donate blood.”
The demand for blood often rises in the summer due to an increase in accidents, just as donations drop due to a variety of factors, including the break in blood drives conducted in schools. Governor Kim Reynolds donated blood at LifeServe location in Johnston yesterday to call attention to the current blood shortage. “It’s been a while since I’ve been here and donated blood so as soon as I saw that, I said: ‘We’re going in,’” Reynolds told reporters.
Members of the governor’s staff donated and a few National Guard soldiers from nearby Camp Dodge did, too, including a soldier in his late 20s who has been a regular blood donor in Ames.) “I want to show that it’s easy, it doesn’t take a lot of time and it’s really important,” Reynolds said. “We saw during COVID actually when we would talk about it…we would see a spike in donations and so that’s the goal and so if we can get people on a routine, then we would really solve the problem.”
One donation will directly impact the lives of three hospital patients. “It’s the patient that’s not only expecting a transfusion because they have chemotherapy or surgery, but it’s that person who’s injured in an accident and the blood has to be on the shelf when you need it,” Sime said. “It’s not something that you can wait hours or days for.”
More than 400 EMS departments in the U-S now carry blood products in ambulances to quickly treat accident victims with traumatic injuries. Sime said her organization is supplying blood to ambulance services in Des Moines and West Des Moines.
