So much donated blood was wasted after last year's Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that US blood banks have struck a special task force to ensure that it doesn't happen again. More than 200 000 units of whole blood had to be thrown away after Americans donated 500 000 extra units in September and October.
Donated blood is discarded if it remains unused after 42 days. (A spokesperson for Canadian Blood Services says no blood was wasted in Canada even though twice as many units as normal — 37 000 — were collected in the 8 days following Sept. 11, 2001.)
Ironically, that flood of donations in the US has since turned into a drought that was caused, at least in part, by news that so much blood was wasted and that fewer than 260 units were actually needed to treat victims of the attacks in New York and Washington.
The task force has responded with a call for multiyear awareness campaigns that emphasize the need for donors to make regular, periodic blood donations instead of responding once to a single emergency. It also says that all blood banks should keep a minimum 7-day supply of red blood cells in all communities at all times.
Plummeting donations have meant that one-third of the nation's independent blood banks now have only a day's supply or less on hand. The New York Blood Center, which was flooded with donors last September, saw 13% fewer donors in June 2002 than in June 2001.
If a Sept. 11-type attack occurred today, said Karen Shoos Lipton, CEO of the American Association of Blood Banks, the task force would develop “a single, consistent public message” about what is needed and what is not.
No one knows if the unprecedented donor response will ever be repeated. Dr. Jerry Squires, vice-president and chief scientific officer at the American Red Cross, says the Sept. 11 attacks resulted in a wave of patriotism and civic duty not seen since WW II.
“Now we must re-energize these donors to give every 56 days.” — Milan Korcok, Florida