Type A-negative blood tops Bloomington hospital wish list

With the holidays swiftly approaching, gift-giving season is here; for Bloomington hospitals, type A-negative blood tops their wish list.

On Dec. 1, the Indiana State Department of Health issued a critical need level of all blood types for Indiana hospitals unable to satisfy patients’ blood needs.

The current shortage of type A-negative blood has left the Indiana Blood Center seeking generosity from the public, especially during the holiday season when donors are typically scarce.

Robin Featherston, a registration specialist for the Indiana Blood Center, said supplies are low almost every year due to residents traveling out-of-state for national holidays during the winter and summer.

“The hospitals are short because we are short,” Featherston said.

Rhonda Grimm, laboratory team leader at Bloomington Hospital, said a standard supply of blood — 100 to 125 units — is kept in the hospital’s blood bank each month. But the hospital uses about 405 units per month on average, thus making them rely heavily on donations.

Grimm said blood types A-negative and O-negative are in highest demand because of O-negative‘s universal donor ability and A-negative‘s ability to be given to positive and negative blood types in the A and AB groups.

If supplies ever get too low, Grimm said, patients requesting elective surgeries will be turned away first. Then, doctors will assess whether needy patients can get by with one unit of blood instead of two, and so on.

This is why blood donation centers offer rewards for donors in hopes that more people will be drawn to give.

The American Red Cross currently offers raffle tickets to donors to be entered into a daily drawing for $100 Visa gift cards.

As another incentive to donors, the Indiana Blood Center provides a rewards system for donation called DonorPoint. For each blood contribution made, a donor receives reward points for use at the center’s online Rewards Store.

Several mobile donation units are also sent out to local businesses throughout the year.

Featherston said the current donation trend may be at a standstill because donors may be holding off until next week’s blood drive.

The “Bleed Blue Blood Drive” at Lucas Oil Stadium, in Indianapolis, will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 14 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Appointments are required for the event and are scheduled in 15-minute intervals. Anyone willing to donate is encouraged to make an appointment online at http://indianablood.org/donating.

All donors at Lucas Oil Stadium will receive a regulation size Indianapolis Colts football, autographed by defensive back Melvin Bullitt.

“We try to be very proactive because we know around holiday and summer vacations people can get busy,” said Katy Maloy, program manager of communications for the American Red Cross. “Maybe blood isn’t the first thing on their minds. This is why we provide incentives to donating blood.”