Blood bank shortage prompts emergency alert

MAT-SU -- The Blood Bank of Alaska, Thursday, issued an emergency alert after finding just three pints of O-negative blood on hand. Center staff are hoping donors will help them bring blood stocks of O-negative and other blood types above critical levels during the next few days.

According to information from Blood Bank of Alaska, type O blood is not only important for type O patients, but can be given to any patient, regardless of blood type. Consequently, type O blood is used to treat emergency and trauma cases, making the need for that type of blood even more important.

Other blood types are also in short supply at the blood bank. Types A-positive, B-positive, A-negative and B-negative are all in short supply, and are listed as condition yellow, or as being less than a two-day supply.

Marianne Schlegelmilch, manager of the Mat-Su branch of Blood Bank of Alaska, said while the Mat-Su branch has the most regular donors -- people who come in every 56 days to donate blood -- changing regulations and an aging donor group means the blood bank must constantly be on the lookout for new donors. A recent change in regulations limited donations from people who had visited the United Kingdom, as there may be potential hazards related to CJD, or Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, known as Mad Cow Disease when cows are afflicted.

"We need to maintain and recruit new blood donors … so we can continue to meet the needs of Alaska," Schlegelmilch said.

The blood bank, Schlegelmilch said, needs 2,200 donors each month in order to maintain sufficient blood stocks. The organization provides blood to 26 of the 28 hospitals in Alaska, including Valley Hospital.

When stocks reach the critical level, Schlegelmilch said, the situation becomes somewhat dangerous. Because of the various steps between donation and distribution, collecting blood and making it available for use in a hospital is a time-consuming task -- one that, were a large accident to happen when blood stocks were low, could put lives in danger.

"The blood needs to have been collected and tested and distributed to a hospital by the time the patient needs it," Schlegelmilch said. "The more that people meet the needs of the blood bank and help us meet the needs of the community, the less often we will need to send out emergency calls."