Young blood

When Rock Bridge High School holds its next blood drive, the lines promise to be longer.

A new state law that takes effect Aug. 28 lowers the minimum age for blood donors. The current minimum age is 17, but the new law allows 16-year-olds to donate blood with parental consent.

American Red Cross spokesman Jim Williams said the law will increase the number of eligible donors statewide by 50,000 to 60,000, potentially giving blood banks relief from low supplies.

Kathy Ritter, assistant principal at Rock Bridge who helps organize and promote the blood drives there, said that the new law could have the potential to double the turnout.

“We try to appeal to their sense of service,” Ritter said, “Our kids tend to respond positively to that.”

At Rock Bridge, Ritter said, students are encouraged to donate during their study time to avoid missing class.

Ritter enjoys the high school blood drives because she believes they turn young donors into life-long donors. “Generally, we encourage kids to donate,” she said. “The younger they donate, the more likely they’ll become a lifetime donor.”

State Sen. Charles Wheeler of Kansas City, a long-time physician, sponsored the legislation to lower the minimum age at the urging of Missouri blood banks.

“On certain days of the year, all the blood centers in Missouri run into shortages,” he said, “You need every donor you can find.”

Before Gov. Matt Blunt signed the bill into law, Wheeler said, it was determined that there are no health risks for the younger donors.

“We found that 16-year-olds are medically adult enough to give blood, and they’re a generous enough group to do so,” Wheeler said.

Other standards for donation will still apply. Donors must weigh at least 110 pounds and be in good health.

Parental consent will be required of the younger donors. “At 18, most people are viewed as being independent. But at 16, there’s still this feeling of ‘this is my child, I want to know what they’re doing,’” said David Graham, director of donor recruitment for the Community Blood Center. Donors 17 and older do not need parental consent.

The law expands on an age group that is already the biggest group of donors.

“If you were to break the city down into demographics, high school students as a demographic give more blood,” said John Lyncheski, the Red Cross district manager for mid-Missouri. “If you take a look at a student body, the backbone of a supply, the seniors can all give blood, half the juniors can already give, and now the rest of them and some sophomores can donate.”

The biggest increase in donors is expected in Missouri high schools. “We are anticipating another 3,000 to 4,000 units just at the high school drives,” Graham said.

Similar legislation has passed in 10 other states, giving the blood industry insight into what might be in store with the age change. “Generally, we see about a 30 percent increase in high school blood drives,” Graham said.

“I don’t think people realize how much the Red Cross depends on schools,” Williams said, “When schools are out, we suffer.”

Along with the high school drives, the Red Cross attempts to educate students on the importance of donating by explaining how their blood is used and how it can benefit others. The new law will allow blood banks to reach a larger group of potential donors.

“Far too many people don’t realize how important it is to give blood,” said Stephen Gates, who leads youth initiatives at the Red Cross. “So we try to reach the kids to show them just how important it can be.”

One tactic used to show the importance of donation is telling the story of people who wouldn’t be alive today without blood they received at a hospital.

“If you can explain to a 16-year-old that if they take one-and-a-half seconds of a pinch, then eat cookies and juice for 20 minutes, their blood can be in an emergency room a few days later, that’s huge,” Lyncheski said.

The No. 1 reason people don’t give blood is that they’ve never been asked, Lyncheski said.

Each pint of blood collected has the potential to save three lives. When blood is collected it can be separated into three parts: red cells, plasma and platelets. Each part can be used to treat different ailments.

Whole blood can be used in open-heart surgery, plasma is used to treat burns, red cells are used in trauma cases and surgeries and platelets are used to treat cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Each has a different shelf life ranging from platelets, which only last five days, to plasma, which can last up to a year when frozen. A unit of red cells must be used within 42 days.

As technology advances and new treatments are created, the demand for blood is rising, Graham said. The problem is that the donor rate has remained relatively flat.

Only about 5 percent of all eligible donors actually give blood, said Williams. This means that of all the 16-year-olds who will be eligible to donate, only about 3,000 will do so. The low donor rate helps to perpetuate a cycle of low supplies.

“If people who give once a year can give twice a year, there wouldn’t be a blood supply problem,” Williams said.

Lyncheski is hoping that the new donors turn into life-long donors.

“The key part is to remind the students what you just did, what you’re about to do,” he said, “You just saved a life.”