Blood supply in Valley hits ''lowest'' level

By Carlos Miller

August 30, 2000 Web posted at: 4:47 PM EDT (2047 GMT)

PHOENIX, Arizona (The Arizona Republic Online) -- The Valley's blood supply is drying up, following a nationwide trend that is causing serious shortages in several states.

"We definitely have a blood shortage," said Scott Spangler, director of the American Red Cross Blood Services in Phoenix. "This is the lowest I've ever seen it."

If the trend continues, he said, non-emergency surgeries in Valley hospitals could be postponed.

"That is a worst-case scenario," he said.

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The blood shortage became noticeable in March, when the Federal Drug Administration came up with a new policy, prohibiting certain people from donating blood, Spangler said.

To prevent a possible outbreak of mad cow disease in the United States, the FDA began prohibiting anyone who had lived in the United Kingdom from 1980 to 1996 for an accumulated time of six months or more to donate blood, Spangler said.

The disease, which became epidemic in the United Kingdom a few years ago, is known to cause a fatal brain disease in humans.

"It is solely a precautionary measure," he said of the FDA policy. "Recent studies suggest that it cannot be passed through blood transfusions."

However, the FDA does not want a repeat of what happened in the late 1970s, when people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, were allowed to donate blood, allowing the virus to spread through transfusions.

Marian Sullivan of the National Blood Data Resource Center, which tracks supply and demand trends, said the nation's aging population also contributes to the blood shortage. Chemotherapy, heart surgeries and organ transplants have created new pressures for huge amounts of blood, she said.

Spangler said other factors in the Valley include a customary summertime drop in donors, many of whom leave the area for several months.

Currently, 4.3 percent of the Valley population eligible to donate blood are donating, he said. Normally, it's 6 percent of the eligible population.

"People who are not eligible are those who weigh under 110 pounds, those under 17 years old and people in high-risk groups," he said.

About 40 percent of people in the nation are eligible donors, he said.

"The No. 1 reason people don't donate is that they weren't asked," he said.

To donate blood, call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE.

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