(Opinion) Other Voices: Donating blood saves lives — let’s meet the demand of this shortage

If you’re looking for a way to give back to our community this summer there is one way to quite literally save a life: Donate blood. 

As it stands today, Colorado is facing an unnerving shortage of blood. 

Summer, for a wide variety of reasons, is often a time when blood banks see their supplies dwindle, but for some blood donation centers in the state, Type O stores have hit their lowest levels in recent memory. 

Vitalant, a nonprofit blood and biotherapies health care organization, tries to keep a four-day supply of all blood types on hand at its centers in order to be prepared for any unexpected increases in demand. But, according to The Denver Post, in June and July, Vitalant’s reserves dropped to less than two days’ supply of O positive and O negative blood, and about three days’ supply of types A, B and AB.

And while we might associate the need for a transfusion with traumatic injuries — car crashes, shootings and natural disasters — most recipients are those with chronic conditions, such as cancers or genetic blood diseases. The need for blood donations, then, is constant, no matter the season. 

In summer, though, two things tend to happen. First, people travel more and thus donate blood less. And second, that increase in travel often results in more travel-related crashes and injuries, which intensify the demand for blood. 

And when it comes to blood, there are no substitutes. If a patient needs a transfusion, they need blood. Thus, blood transfusions save lives. But they can only occur if the necessary blood type has been donated and is available. 

The simple truth is that keeping our blood donation supplies stocked saves lives. 

Which means it is time for our community to step up and do our part. 

If you are interested in donating blood but worried you are ineligible, contact your local blood donation center. (Vitalant can be reached at vitalant.org or 877-258-4825.) Traveling overseas or getting a tattoo are not the automatic disqualifiers some people assume they are. 

Similarly, it is worth noting and applauding the fact that in May the Food and Drug Administration finally eased decades-old restrictions that prevented gay and bisexual men from donating blood without first abstaining from sexual activity for three months.

That change was long overdue and serves to further provide more members of our community the opportunity to give.  

We all live busy lives — some, of course, more so than others. We have jobs and school and obligations. We have children to take care of and bills to pay. We get stuck in traffic and work overtime to make rent. We have a thousand obligations tying us up. And giving is not always easy or convenient or on top of our priority list. 

But many of us can make it happen. We can find a way to make it work and spare the time it takes (about 30 to 45 minutes) to donate blood. And if we can, right now we should.

It is one clear instance when the benefits of the gift far outweigh the burdens of giving it. Donating blood saves lives. And right now the burden of donation rests too firmly on those who donate regularly. We must, as a community, step up and meet the challenge of Colorado’s shortage and ensure our hospitals have the blood they need when they need it. 

— Gary Garrison for the Daily Camera Editorial Board