The next time you hear about a traffic accident where someone is seriously injured … think about this; a single crash can require doctors use up to 50 units of blood.

According to ImpactLife, about 62% of the U.S. population is eligible to give blood, but only about 3% donate at least once a year. Blood Center manager of Public Relations Kirby Winn says blood is needed for so many situations.

“It could be a patient in treatment for cancer, someone needing surgery, if there’s a trauma with blood loss and a patient comes into the emergency room, those are all reasons that don’t change because it’s winter weather outside, and that’s why this time of year, even though we might face cancelation of blood drives and loss of appointments related to weather, we always need to maintain a strong and stable inventory.” 

Winn says the blood center which serves OSF HealthCare strives to have a minimum 5-day supply of all blood types. It considers inventory “critically low” at less than a 2-day supply. ImpactLife currently has a 3-day supply of type O-negative, A-negative, and AB-negative red blood cells while other types are at higher levels.

ImpactLife has been hit by blood drive cancelations and hundreds of missed appointments due to winter weather so far this year. By early February, the blood center was working to recover the loss of more than 550 donations across its four-state service region. ImpactLife also provides blood components used by 26 air and ground ambulance services in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin.

According to Winn, considering the losses due to weather, inventory levels are holding up well. But he says the supply is just one big snowstorm from having a serious issue.

The number one reason people choose to give blood is their desire to help others, but the blood center hopes its Donor For Life rewards program can motivate additional donations as well.

Winn says there are several ways donors can benefit.

More than one reward option

“The way that it works is after giving blood, the donor will receive an email with a link to use to redeem for that electronic gift card to their choice of a variety of retailers and restaurants, places that we all know. Or they can choose those points to use in our reward store. Or finally, the option to give charitably to a nonprofit organization.”

Donors need to select the Good Giving option to receive information on how to direct their charitable donation.

ImpactLife also has an easy-to-use smart phone app that tracks reward points, helps donors find nearby donor centers and blood drives, track their donation history, view wellness info and prompt donors to give more often. The intent of the app is to keep current blood donors engaged and to attract new donors, which is especially important for the long-term stability of our region’s blood supply.

ImpactLife provides blood to more than 120 hospitals and emergency medical services teams in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin, including OSF HealthCare facilities. Winn says to meet patient needs for blood and blood components, the blood center requires more than 3,000 donations from volunteer blood donors every week.

In addition to allowing for easy sign-up to donate at a local blood drive, the app also stores important health information such as heart rate and what your blood pressure was for the last donation.

For more inspiration about how your donation can make a difference, watch Brianne’s story.

Sign up here for an ImpactLife account or download the ImpactLife app, which is available for both Android and Apple smart phones. 

Video clips with Kirby Winn

B-roll for blood bank app (ImpactLife)

Recent reports from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are again raising awareness of hepatitis C.

A 2022 report found “too few people diagnosed with hepatitis C are being treated, despite availability of medications capable of curing this viral infection.” Specifically, the agency estimates fewer than one in three people with health insurance are getting direct-acting antiviral treatment for the infection within a year of diagnosis. A June 2023 study published by the CDC also examined gaps in access to treatment, building on the 2022 findings.

The statistics resonate with Marcie Lindstrom, a gastroenterology advanced practice provider at OSF HealthCare.

“If we go back 10 or 15 years, hepatitis C treatment was really difficult,” Lindstrom notes as a possible reason for the hesitancy. “Treatment lasted a year or a year and a half. It required an injection. People really felt bad during treatment.”

Conversely: “Treatment today is so easy. It’s completed in as little as eight weeks. It’s a pill. No more injections,” Lindstrom says.

The basics

Lindstrom says hepatitis – whether A, B, C, D or E – describes inflammation of the liver. She says hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus, and doctors over the years have settled on some common ways it spreads:

• A blood transfusion prior to 1992. Prior to that time, screening blood donors for diseases was not reliable.
• A tattoo or piercing at a place that’s not regulated
• Men who have unprotected sexual relations with men
• People who use illegal drugs, either through a needle injection or snorting through the nose

“Often people are at parties and sharing a straw or dollar bill to ingest. There are a lot of blood capillaries inside the nose. Those can break open,” and blood can spread, Lindstrom says.

Lindstrom calls hepatitis C a silent ailment due to a lack of symptoms.

“Many people can have hepatitis C for decades before they become aware of it,” she says.

Even worse, when a person does have symptoms, they may be vague and tough to distinguish from everyday problems. Fatigue and body aches are common complaints.

Often, Lindstrom says a provider discovers hepatitis C after a person comes in for some routine bloodwork. The bloodwork may come back showing elevated liver enzymes, and a test specifically for hepatitis – also a simple blood test – would then be done.

But if you have any hepatitis C risk factors, you should talk to your health care provider about when you need to be screened. A provider may recommend a screening once a year. And generally, federal guidelines say all adults should be screened for hepatitis C once in their life, and all pregnant women should be tested during each pregnancy. Ask your provider about it when you’re younger rather than older, Lindstrom pleads.

Why it’s important

Untreated hepatitis C can lead to liver scarring known as cirrhosis. That means fewer cells doing their daily functions, which, in turn, can lead to liver failure, liver cancer and even death.

“That’s why treatment is important. We don’t want people to progress to getting cirrhosis,” Lindstrom says. “If they take their eight to 12 weeks of treatment and don’t have a lot of scarring, we have a high success rate in clearing the virus – 98 to 100%.”

Learn more

Read more about gastroenterology care on the OSF HealthCare website.

Interview clips

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