Versiti Blood Center of Indiana held a blood donation drive at Mt. Vernon on August 19, 2021. High school blood drives, like the one recently hosted at Mt. Vernon, are a critical piece of maintaining national blood supply. The Red Cross reports that 20% of their blood supply comes from high school and college blood drives. While 20% may not sound like a lot, every drop is critical due to blood supply being low. This is because of a low number of donations. About 40% of American adults are eligible to donate blood, but only about 5% of the eligible blood donors regularly donate. 

Blood cannot be manufactured or synthesized, it can only be sourced from donations. It is both one of the scarcest and most critical materials of modern medicine. Blood transfusions are a core element in treatments for a myriad of conditions, from COVID-19 to cancer. A single car crash victim may need as much as 100 liters of blood transfused.

Local ICU nurse Tracy Roberts said, “Modern medicine would not be possible without donated blood. In the ICU we use donated blood on a regular basis to save lives. There are multiple components that come from donated blood and we use all of the blood products regularly to support and sustain life. All blood, and every blood product, is used very conservatively because the supplies are always very tight.”

Despite its vital role, blood is still in short supply. Local events and drives help, but the most important thing any individual can do is donate.