Suburban blood supply hit by blizzard

There are obvious setbacks from a major winter storm like Blizzard 2011 — the loss of work or school time, an inability to travel even in emergencies and the huge effort to dig out.

Then there are the less obvious — like the inability of those willing to donate blood to get to a donor site or blood drive.

And that impact is significant, according to those who organize blood drives for Heartland Blood Centers, which provides blood to 38 area hospitals in 12 counties, including Kane, DuPage, Cook, McHenry, DeKalb and Will.

“The community does not think about blood supply, unless we get the word out about how the winter storm has an effect on it,” said Jill Bernard, director of mobile recruitment for Heartland Blood Centers. “We lost 1,300 units total since Tuesday because of our canceled blood drives and our main office in Aurora being closed.”

The blood centers are now pushing to reschedule 21 canceled blood drives and reschedule appointments as soon as possible, Bernard said.

Heartland estimates it needs 600 donors each day to meet the transfusion demands of patients in the hospitals it serves.

Delnor Hospital spokesman Brian Griffin said the Geneva hospital was not reporting any current difficulty in filling its needs from Heartland, which has been supplying blood to Delnor since 1945.

“Our blood bank reports that in a typical month, it is using about 450 units of blood,” Griffin said.

Bernard acknowledged that the hospitals may not currently notice a shortage, but the storm could have a ripple effect if the centers are not able to make up for the lost days.

Donors can find a complete list of blood drives in the region or location of the 17 Heartland Blood Centers by visiting heartlandbc.org or by calling (800) 786-4483 for information.

“We also are always looking for organizations to offer to conduct blood drives,” Bernard added.

Heartland has sweetened the process a bit by offering all donors a $5 Dunkin' Donuts gift card during this critical time.

To be a blood donor, individuals must be at least 17 years old or 16 with written parental permission; weigh at least 110 pounds; be symptom-free of cold, flu and allergies; and be in general good health. Donors who have traveled outside the United States within the past 12 months should contact Heartland to determine eligibility. Heartland, an independent nonprofit blood center, works toward collecting more than 172,000 units of blood annually.