Blood rush following Sept. 11 has slowed

Soon after Sept. 11 many Americans were possessed by a spirit of giving. Students at IU and people around the nation rushed to donate time, clothing, money and, for a while, blood.\n"That entire week was amazing," charge nurse Nancy Ranstead said. "We were completely full. We had people sitting on the floor; we had people lined up out the door. We even had people coming out to volunteer."\nContrary to rumor, even during a time with an overflow of donations, like the week after the attacks, no blood was ever entirely thrown away. Three elements are taken out of donated blood: red blood cells, plasma and platelets. Red blood cells can be frozen for up to ten years so when the Red Cross used all of the cells it could, it simply froze the rest to be used at a later date. \nThe scene has changed at the Bloomington Red Cross donation site since then and having too much blood is no longer an issue. Ranstead said she's seen one of the slowest summers of the year after the rush of Sept. 11 died off. \nBlood from the Bloomington area services hospitals in Columbus, Bloomington and Paoli. With the shortage of blood supply, area hospitals have had to cancel all elective surgeries unless patients can give their own blood beforehand. With the shortage, hospitals are forced to save all of their blood supplies for emergencies. \nStaffers at the Red Cross are hoping that the anniversary of Sept. 11 will cause more people to come out and donate.\n"Of course we're hoping that we'll see more donations after the anniversary," Ranstead said. "We're seeing people who haven't donated since last September, and they're donating again"