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Amid a nationwide shortage of blood donations, Vitalant says that of 70% of eligible blood donors in the Rio Grande Valley only 3% actually give.
The nonprofit dedicated to blood and biotherapies healthcare organization is encouraging local residents to donate blood in hopes of bridging the gap in donations.
On average the American Red Cross must collect 13,000 pints of blood in order to meet the need across the country.
“Every two seconds, a patient somewhere in the U.S. needs a blood transfusion,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a 2021 “Get Involved: Donate Blood. Save Lives.” article.
According to the U.S. Blood Donation Statistics and Public Messaging Guide, about 3% of the U.S. population donate blood each year which in 2019 equaled about 10,879,000 whole blood and apheresis red blood cells collected.
However, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic caused many blood drives to be canceled due to the safety protocols and restrictions in place during that time. As of June 2021, the Red Cross continued to see the effects of the pandemic on donations, with as many as 1,000 blood drives canceled each month.
In 2023, the Red Cross announced it was experiencing a national blood shortage due to seeing fewer donors last summer. The decrease in blood supply caused a reduction in the distribution of various blood types to hospitals.
The Red Cross also identified Hurricane Idalia as a contributing factor to the decreased blood supply due to various blood drives and reduced blood and platelet donations being canceled in the affected areas. This caused a shortage of about 30,000 donations in August.
“Right now, blood product distributions to hospitals are outpacing the number of blood donations coming in,” the Red Cross said in a Sept. 11, 2023 news release about the national blood shortage.
In an effort to combat the shortage, Ali Arredondo III, donor recruitment manager at Vitalant, explained the company continues to host blood drives with as many as 80 drives a month.
“We average about 70 to 80 or 60 to 80 sometimes,” Arredondo said, adding that this month, which is also National Blood Donor Month, they will be hosting 60 blood drives throughout the Rio Grande Valley. “It’s a lot of blood drives.”
He explained that they often focus their efforts on local businesses, high schools, trade schools and colleges.
“We try to encourage our young donors,” Arredondo said that they often do presentations at schools to promote and educate them on the importance of blood donations.
Through those efforts, they see an average of about 15,000 to 18,000 units of blood annually with the spring being their busiest time of the year. Schools alone make up 66% of the blood donations.
The winter season, however, is when they see a drop in donations due to the holidays, travel and illness. It helps to get donations from winter visitors during that time of year.
“Right now our biggest donors are the Winter Texans,” Arredondo said, adding that they service approximately 70 RV parks.
Although Vitalant is an independent company they sometimes work with the Red Cross to provide supplies or any other necessary materials.
“We’re a smaller group but we do make up the south region of Vitalant,” Arredondo said, adding that they also cover Lubbock, Albuquerque, Lafayette and Memphis.
Those who wish to learn more about donation opportunities or donate blood can visit the Vitalant office in McAllen, located at 1400 S. Sixth St. or the Harlingen office, located at 610 N. Ed Carey Drive. Their hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 12 to 7 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Sunday.
Their offices are also open during the holidays but hours may vary.
Vitalant will be hosting another blood drive on Jan. 25 at the South Texas Vocational Technical Institute, located at 1800 S Main St #500 in McAllen.
In order to donate one must be 16 or older, and 16-year-olds must have parental consent. Those 16 to 21 years of age must meet the necessary weight criteria to donate, and not have COVID-19 within the last five to seven days or have taken any type of antibiotics at the time.
“Come out and donate to help support our local emergency shortage. You never know whose life you’re going to save,” Arredondo said.
For more information, visit Vitalant.org or call Vitalant at (877) 258-4825.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to clarify the seasonal ebbs and flows in donations.
