Blood Bank on Standby to Send Supplies to Gulf Area

The San Diego Blood Bank’s holiday appeal for blood donations has an added twist this year--the need to keep supplies high because the center is on standby to send blood to the Mideast if fighting breaks out there.

The extra blood, 100 pints a week, would be supplied for U.S. troops in Operation Desert Shield under a longstanding agreement between the Pentagon and the American Assn. of Blood Banks’ National Blood Exchange, said Marcia Lane, spokeswoman for the association.

The San Diego Blood Bank is among fewer than 2 dozen blood banks nationwide on a list of those that have made specific commitments to provide blood supplies if war breaks out in the Mideast.

However, local blood bank officials were told not to release details of the list after reporters began contacting the national association about the backup blood supplies, said Lynn Stedd, community relations director for the San Diego center.

The national association has 760 blood banks as members.

The San Diego Blood Bank was first contacted by representatives of the association regarding the Mideast situation in September, Stedd said.

Another call to confirm the commitment to supply 100 pints a week came last week, she said.

Lane emphasized that such contacts are being made to assure that the existing agreement with the military can be honored, but that the backup blood supply system has not been activated yet.

Officials at other blood banks in Southern California say they have not been contacted about supplying specific amounts to the Mideast if needed. However, all expect to contribute if necessary.

“If the need were perceived to be an emergency, donors would come out of the woodwork,” predicted Paul Sautter, director of community relations for the Blood Bank of San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

Joan Mueller, spokeswoman for the American Red Cross in Orange County, said any response to provide blood will be coordinated through the national offices of the Red Cross. No specific arrangements have been made, she said.

Even without a need for blood in a war, there already are the expected holiday shortages of blood donors in San Diego, Stedd said. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, several traffic accidents and major surgery depleted blood supplies at a time that few donations were coming in, she said.

The blood bank is encouraging people to donate at centers in central San Diego, El Cajon, Escondido and Vista.