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Blood donations have fallen to catastrophic levels. Experts say young people need to step up. (www.nbcnews.com)

submitted 9 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/health@lemmy.world

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Changes to the requirements for donating blood coupled with the pandemic have led to a drop-off in the number of teens and young adults donating blood.

It was a white T-shirt bearing the likeness of Snoopy wearing shades and leaning effortlessly against the iconic American Red Cross logo that prompted a surge in blood donations in the spring of 2023.

“Be cool. Give blood,” the shirt urged. The message — on young people, anyway — was effective. More than 70,000 people under age 35 responded to the call, rolling up their sleeves and giving blood in exchange for the coveted tees.

The need for blood is urgent. Over the holidays, the Red Cross had 7,000 fewer units of blood available than were needed by hospitals, said Dr. Eric Gehrie, the executive medical director of the American Red Cross. The organization speculated it would need about 8,000 additional donations every week in January to ensure that hospitals are fully supplied, he added.

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[–] kofe@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago

This is why I "donate" plasma instead. Still helping people, can do it more often, and my first month after a long break gave me $600 in 6 visits

It's gonna drop down to maybe $150-250 in the next month but it'll still be at least $25 for an hour out of my day twice a week.

Would be nice if there were no monetary system so it weren't so exploitative but hey, I'll keep dreaming