Throwing away all that blood is something that I cannot forgive. This angers me. For those that do donate blood, please consider other alternatives other than the Red Cross. Check to see if your state has a blood bank.

fair use for educational and discussion purposes...

Link

Blood Institute Seeks To Reassure Donors

Red Cross Admits Many Donations Discarded

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The American Red Cross was "reckless" and "irresponsible" when it was forced to discard thousands of units of donated blood because they could not be frozen in time, the director of the Oklahoma Blood Institute said Monday.

The American Red Cross collected hundreds of thousands of blood donations after Sept. 11 and told donors that their blood would be frozen. But a plan for freezing the blood was not approved until Oct. 1.

As a result, thousands of pints of blood have outlasted their shelf life and are being destroyed.

"There was so much blood in the system that there was no way that that blood could be used," Ron Gilcher of the Oklahoma Blood Institute told Eyewitness News 5's Randy McIlwain. "Obviously, massive outdating has occurred. In my opinion, that was reckless and irresponsible."

Following the terrorist attacks, the Oklahoma Blood Institute created Donors on Demand. Under the program, donations were drawn from donors -- but not the full amount. The donors were then asked to come back at a later date to give.

Although there have been no shortages, no complaints and no waste, Gilcher said that he is concerned the because of the apparent blunder by the Red Cross, many donors will think they have wasted their time and will not respond to future needs.

"What I don't want to have happen is for people within our system to think that the same thing happened. It did not, and we need those people to come out," he said.

Of the thousands of units of blood collected in Oklahoma following the terrorist attacks, only eight units were outdated, Gilcher said.

All of those units were used for research purposes.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2001

Answers

I thought I understood that the red cell component was shot but that they were able to save the plasma. Perhaps not.

During the 1960s and 1970s, my dad, as a pathologist, also ran the chemistry and hematology and blood bank lab functions at his hospital. He hated the Red Cross. The hospital could accept direct donations of blood, but the Red Cross made life miserable for the hospital when that happened. RC wanted full control of the national blood supply.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2001

Just me ranting here, so please excuse me.

If the ARC gets their act together, I hope they survive. If, however, they are going to continue to work in the ways which they have shown us with this terrible disaster, I hope they are forced to fold due to lack of donations from any kind.

Just my cents worth,

apoc

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2001

Oh hell. I've been a consistent donor to the ARC for a long time (my blood is in the universal donor class), put their bumper stickers on my car, etc. I'm not sure what I'll do now.

Elizabeth Dole certainly ran a better operation than this Healy.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2001

Hubby donates blood, and on occasion has been called to donate if there is a specific need for his type. Due to his job, he has to be careful and he counts the days to the T before he is allowed to donate again. Also, depending on where he travels to, he will need for them to check it out to verify if he is cleared to donate.

Having said that, he always donates to the Oklahoma Blood Institute, instead of the ARC. He has many of the gallon donated pins, tons of t-shirts, and an extra couple of pounds due to the cookies they feed him afterwards.

apoc

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2001