Blood makes a heartfelt gift for the holidays

SEELEY LAKE – Alysa Loesch sat relaxed on the gurney at the Seeley-Swan High School gym. Blood dripped from a tube in her arm to a collection bag below. Loesch was one of the estimated 15-25 students and community members who donated blood at the Dec. 4 Red Cross blood drive.

Loesch is a junior at the high school, but this is already the second time she has given blood. Asked why she chooses to donate, she said, "Because I know I may be saving someone's life somewhere."

In an email, Red Cross Communications Manager Natividad Lewis said the American Red Cross organization has accepted the mandate of ensuring blood is available for patients whenever and wherever needed. That means each day they must collect 13,000 blood donations and 2,500 platelet donations nationwide to service 2,600 hospitals across the U.S.

Lewis wrote that in Montana, 16-year-olds are eligible to donate blood with their parent's consent. She also noted that donation sites at high schools and colleges provide approximately 20 percent of the blood required each day. Nationally, donors are split about equally between the 16-24 and the 45-64 age groups.

SSHS is one of the locations in Seeley Lake that hosts blood drives throughout the year. The high school Student Council members act as volunteers in one-hour shifts. They serve as greeters to check the donors in and provide them with initial paper work. They also provide snacks after the donors are through and monitor them before they leave.

While Loesch's blood was being drawn, another SSHS junior Emma Stevenson came in for her appointment. Stevenson admitted being a little nervous because this was her first time. She said she came because her mother and older sister donate regularly and had impressed on her how important it was. They both have the O negative blood type, and Stevenson no doubt does also. While the goal is to match donor and recipient blood types exactly, and that usually is achievable, O negative is considered "the universal donor," and can be safely transfused to any other blood type when necessary. It is also important because it is the only type that can be transfused to an O negative patient.

Stevenson had no need to worry about her first blood draw experience. As Lewis made clear in her email, personnel of the blood mobile team who perform the actual blood draws have all undergone a full-time, intensive phlebotomy training program provided by the American Red Cross. Every team member's goal is to provide a safe and pleasant donation experience. Harry Hutchison, the phlebotomist in charge of the SSHS drive, has been working the blood mobile circuit for 17 years, with 13 years of paramedic experience prior to that. He estimated he has inserted a needle into a blood vein well over 25,000 times.

Each pint of blood collected during the SSHS drive gets sent back to the Red Cross where it is tested for infectious diseases and separated into blood components. Distribution of blood is handled through the Red Cross' national inventory management system. Local hospitals get priority. Once their needs are filled, the blood can be sent anywhere across the nation where there is a need for it.

As Lewis wrote, "A blood donation could be helping someone down the street or across the country. The Red Cross' goal is to get the right blood to the right patient at the right time." She added, "To enhance the donor experience, donors can find out where their blood goes if they make an appointment through our Red Cross Blood Donor App."

Lewis also noted that the end-of-the-year holidays historically bring a decline in donations, and this year that decline comes following two months of significant shortfalls.

While wildfires, floods and other natural disasters bring injuries that require blood transfusions, equally detrimental is the disruption in the scheduled pattern of blood donation. Disasters such as Hurricane Michael and Hurricane Florence forced the cancellation of almost 250 blood drives, preventing nearly 7,500 units of blood and platelets from being collected. At times such as these, the rest of the nation needs to donate more to compensate.

SSHS senior Brian Atwell has the right attitude. Asked, as he waited to give blood, why he chose to donate he said, "I just feel if you can donate blood, then you should."

In addition to local area scheduled blood drives, which are publicized in the Seeley Swan Pathfinder and other local papers, the American Red Cross Blood Donation Center on North Reserve Street in Missoula makes appointments Friday through Tuesday (1-800-RED CROSS). They also accept walk-ins whenever possible. Platelet and plasma, along with whole blood donations are processed at the Missoula center. It is safe for an individual to donate blood once every 56 days.