Fewer People Donating Blood, Creating 'Impending Public Health Crisis'

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- It's a crisis in this region, as fewer people than ever are donating blood.

"People who are willing or able to donate blood have really decreased during the past 10 years to the point where, as you said, we are facing an impending public health crisis," says Kristen Lane with Vitalant, the successor organization to the Central Blood Bank.

The numbers are stark.

In 2007, just under 90,000 donors locally gave blood.

Today that number is less than half that, says Lane.

Vitalant supplies blood to area hospitals, including UPMC and the Allegheny Health Network.

In 2017, the local area needed 156,637 pints of blood, but only 73,702 pints were donated in the Pittsburgh region.

Appearing at a taping of The Sunday Business Page, Lane took questions from KDKA money editor Jon Delano on Thursday.

Delano: "Only 73,000 donated, so, Kristen, what's going on? Why aren't people donating?"
Lane: "Jon, there are so many reasons. People are busy. We have some criteria in place that may deter people from donating blood."

Some restrictions include if you've traveled to areas with Zika or Malaria, but the biggest issue could be generational.

"The Babyboomers are getting older. Some of us are turning from blood donors to blood recipients," notes Lane.

But Lane adds there's no age bar to donation and some great donors are in their 70s.

Still...

Delano: "I want to know about the millennials."
Lane: "So do we."
Delano: "What's going on with millennials and the gen Xers -- the people in their 20s and 30s and 40s -- those ought to be your main suppliers."
Lane: "They should, and that's why we really need to get the word out. Young people these days are very, very busy. They really focus on convenience."

So Vitalant wants employers -- companies, associations, non-profits, churches -- to invite them in.

"We bring an entire blood donation center on site," says Lane. "We have our trucks. We bring our equipment in. We bring our phlebotomists in. Everything from the juice to the cookies to make it very convenient."

Very convenient and life-saving.