CENTRAL TEXAS — COVID-19 significantly slowed down blood donations. Right now the demand is high, and supply is low. One Baylor Scott and White nurse is doing her part to help, after seeing the need and impact first hand.
Lisa Bailey RN, BSN at Baylor Scott and White Nurse decided she would be a regular blood donor in 1994 when she started working at the hospital. Working in the operating room Bailey saw the need first hand.
“I work in the operating room, and so, I realized how important it was seeing the use of the blood,” Bailey said.
After a hip replacement surgery a few years ago, she needed blood herself.
Bailey said, “I felt the difference it made. I was just becoming a different person. I was feeling better once I had that blood.”
She now strives to donate on a regular, especially now with a nationwide critical blood shortage.
Vickie Carpenter with Carter Blood Care said, “Right now, we are coming out of a 15-month supply shortage of blood. Summer is always considered our critical need months.”
Dr. Bill Morgan Trauma Medical Director at BSW Hillcrest said, during the summer times people have more free time, so more accidents are more likely to happen.
"People are not at work, and they're off, you know, on their jet ski or on their ATVs or on their motorcycles," Dr. Morgan said.
The need for blood is amplified for trauma patients, as well as folks who have kidney diseases or cancer, who rely on blood on a regular.
"The need for blood is going to become higher, simply because of the way we're addressing these trauma patients. So, I mean, blood and blood products are becoming more and more important in the medical profession," said Dr. Morgan.
You might be asking yourself, what can I do to help?
“Donate to a blood drive," Carpenter said.
Dr. Morgan believes blood drives are critical to ensuring a steady supply of blood is always readily available.
“I mean, without them, we couldn't do our jobs and people wouldn't survive," said Morgan.
