Top Ten Reasons for Not Giving Blood

Reason #2. “Others Are Donating Enough.”

This statement is inaccurate. Approximately half of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood, yet only five percent of those who’re eligible actually give blood!

Nationally, blood supplies sometimes runs low, especially during summer and winter months. Running out of blood isn’t like running out of an ingredient while cooking, however — there is no substitute for blood.

Someone needs blood every two seconds. That’s about as often as you blink.  To them, your blood is irreplaceable.  Your body, on the other hand, replaces the fluid lost within hours and the red blood cells within a month of donating, according to America’s Blood Centers.  

Just like food and medication, blood has an expiration date, adding to Miller-Keystone Blood Center’s dependency on a steady stream of donors.  Whole blood has a shelf-life of about a month and half; platelets, used to treat cancer patients and burn victims, have a shelf-life of less than a week.

MKBC continually needs blood donors to keep the community’s blood supply at a safe level. As the only supplier to over 21 regional hospitals that need over 450 units of blood for their patients daily, MKBC needs your blood to keep premature infants, accident victims, burn victims, cancer patients and others in need of life-saving transfusions alive.

Some of the top reasons patients need blood: premature birth, accidents, burns, cancer, heart disease, gastrointestinal tract disease and transplants.  Here’s how many units of blood patients in need typically use:

• Premature Infant: 1-4 units of red cells
• Automobile Accident: 5-100 units of red cells
• Burn Victims: 20 units of platelets
• Cancer Patient: 3-10 units of red cells / 10-30 units of platelets
• Sickle Cell Patient: 10-20 units of red cells
• Heart Surgery: 3-8 units of red cells / 1-10 units of platelets / 2-5 units of plasma
• Organ Transplant: 10-30 units of red cells / 10-30 units of platelets / 10-20 units of plasma / 20 bags of cryoprecipitate
• Bone Marrow Transplant: 15-20 units of red cells / 100-120 units of platelets

If blood donors gave just twice a year, blood shortages would be rare. 

Unfortunately, many people don’t start giving blood until someone they know — a neighbor, friend or family member — needs it.  By donating blood on a regular basis, you can help ensure that enough blood is there when someone you love depends on it.

A resident of Easton, Sarah Peters is a junior at Penn State University, and a Public Relations Intern at Miller-Keystone Blood Center.