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With less than 40 percent of the adult population eligible to give blood and a prior generation of devoted donors drying up, America’s blood bank are running dry.

One of the factor contributed to the decline is that more stringent health specifications are now being applied to prospective donors. For instance, people who have recently acquired piercing or tattoos, having communicable diseases or certain blood disorders, and those who have traveled to countries prone to certain diseases are not allowed to donate. These new limits have caused a certain decline in blood collection, but some of the blame is due to poor recruiting efforts.

Collection officials said they’ve seen the decline coming for decades but have been slow embracing new technology, such as internet and other media, relying mostly on telephone calls to bring in donors.

Americans raised during World War II regarded blood donation as a civic duty, like voting or belonging to a service club. For many, the habit has continued for life. According to Dr. Ross M. Herron, chief medical officer for the Western Division of Red Cross Blood Services.

They were the greatest generation of blood donors we ever had.

So with that generation fading away, America will call on none other than its teenagers to help refuel the nations blood stores, making them a crucial part of blood drives around the country.

About 8 percent of the 6 million units of whole blood collected annually by the American Red Cross now come from teens aged 16 and 17, and if you add 18 and 19 year olds, that number jumps to 15 percent. If the practice of collecting blood from 16 year olds were extended nationally, it could bring in an additional 200,000 units a year, according to Red Cross estimates.

Twenty-two states and U.S. territories now allow teenagers 16 years old to donate blood with parental consent. Oregon and Kansas allow it without consent, and California allows donation by 15 year olds with written approval by a parent and a doctor. Meantime, seventeen year olds can donate almost anywhere.

Dr. Anne F. Eder, a Red Cross scientist who led the research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, notes that safety of the young donors is a top priority. Her team of researcher’s analyzed more than 1.7 million donations collected at nine regional Red Cross centers during 2006. Although the number of complications reported was small, only in the hundreds, they do exist and need to be addressed.

The donors ranged from age 16 to 20, and complications were generally due to injuries sustained during a blackout from light headiness or fainting. While several factors might contribute to passing out, low body weight seems to play a major role, according both studies.

Credit: Health News