The Blood Bank of Hawaii will hold a series of blood drives on the Big Island this month and next in order to prepare for disasters nationwide.
Gov. David Ige announced that this past Sunday was Hawaii Blood Donation Day, sandwiched in the middle of National Blood Donation Week — between Sept. 1 and 7 — and at the beginning of National Disaster Preparedness Month.
Ige’s proclamation came at the same time as the Blood Bank of Hawaii’s announcement that it is a participant in the Blood Emergency Readiness Corps, a partnership of over 30 community blood centers around the nation stockpiling blood in case of disasters.
Fred McFadden, the Blood Bank of Hawaii’s director of donor services, said the blood supply in Hawaii has dwindled after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, he said, since about 20% of blood supplies typically come from blood drives at high schools or colleges, summer tends to bring a seasonal dip in the bank’s inventory.
“It’s lower than we’d like,” McFadden said. “Right now, we have only a half-day supply of O-negative blood, which is the universal donor blood type.”
That universal donor blood is what the Blood Bank needs to stockpile for the Blood Emergency Readiness Corps.
Formed in 2021, the BERC has participating centers on standby in case of an emergency somewhere in the nation. Should the BERC network be activated, whichever centers are “on call” will send a certain amount of O-type blood to the site of the disaster.
The last time the BERC network was activated was after the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in May 24, when 19 elementary students and two teachers were killed, and 17 others were wounded.
The Blood Bank of Hawaii will be on call during the week of Sept. 11, with blood drives to be held on Oahu that week to support BERC. On the Big Island, however, drives won’t begin until nearly two weeks later.
McFadden said the first blood drives will be at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Kilauea Avenue in Hilo on Sept. 20, 21 and 22.
The blood bank will hold another series of drives in West Hawaii at the LDS church in Kailua-Kona on Oct. 18, 19 and 20.
Blood drives at both locations will run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. the first day, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. the second, and from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. the third.
McFadden advised that participants will be required to wear masks or face coverings to donate blood, although masks will be provided at the site. In addition, he said that anybody who has tested positive for COVID-19 should refrain from donating blood until 10 days have past since the last symptoms were felt.
While maintaining O-negative blood supplies is most crucial, since it can be universally donated, McFadden urged everyone who is able to donate.
“The most important blood type is the one that’s on the shelves right now,” McFadden said. “O-negative is important since, when you don’t know what type of blood someone has, you give them O-negative. But once you’ve tested their blood, you give them the corresponding blood type because we want to save the O-negative for situations like that.”
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.