In West Michigan, the blood supply is alarmingly low, donations are needed

GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. — West Michigan is experiencing a critical shortage of blood supplies. The Versiti Blood Center tells me there is less than a day’s supply of certain blood types.

“I am a regular donor; I have been donating blood for years,” said Nancy Coelho.

She regularly visits the Versiti blood donation center on Fuller Avenue. This time, during her lunch break, she noticed many empty chairs.

Nancy Coelho says: “I definitely noticed that there was less going on. At the time of my donation, I was the only person who donated whole blood.”

“There is an acute blood shortage right now,” said Dawn Kaiser, director of donor services at the Versiti Blood Center of Michigan.

She says the shortage is due to a lack of regular donors and area hospitals needing larger blood supplies. “We’re actually encouraging our staff to lie down on the beds and donate blood. Because we’re so important.”

To meet the needs of hospitals in the region, 600 blood units are needed every day.

“If we do not receive enough donations, hospitals will have to tell patients that they need to undergo a planned operation and have to postpone it. This can lead to a backlog in hospitals,” said Kaiser.

Versiti says they had their lowest donation number of the year last week and need 4,000 donors in the next seven days to meet demand.

Kaiser says, “If we don’t have enough blood, it’s a community problem. It’s not a Versiti problem because people help people and people need people. We just rely on voluntary blood donors to maintain our blood supply.

“There are so many people in hospitals who desperately need blood products, children, cancer patients, really sick people, and this is one way we can all help,” Nancy said.

According to Versiti, a blood donation takes about an hour and who can complain when there are snacks as a reward afterwards.

To find a local place to donate, go to Versiti.org

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