MOSES LAKE — Accident victims. Cancer patients. Surgery patients. They all need blood during treatment – and sometimes the supply of it gets low. Really low. 

Kristin Conner, communications manager for Vitalant, a nonprofit organization that sponsors blood drives in Grant and Adams counties, estimated about 3% of the eligible U.S. population donates blood each year. 

“We rely on our committed donor base to donate regularly and advocate on our behalf,” she wrote in response to an email from the Columbia Basin Herald.  

But 3% isn’t enough to provide a sustainable blood supply. 

“Every summer when school is out and families are on vacation, the national blood supply typically falls below the needed four-day availability on hospital shelves,” Conner wrote. “That includes the need for Type O, the most transfused blood type.” 

Vitalant is one of the organizations supplying blood to Samaritan Healthcare, and Gretchen Youngren, chief development and communications officer for Samaritan Healthcare, said an adequate and steady supply of blood products is crucial. 

“As the regional Level 3 trauma facility having access to enough blood products is crucial in our ability to provide care to patients in need,” Youngren wrote in answer to a Columbia Basin Herald email. 

Vitalant operates a mobile donation center in Grant and Adams counties, Conner said, and it’s out and about almost every day. Vitalant also works with local organizations to host blood drives. 

Blood drives are scheduled for today at Big Bend Community College and Saturday at Desert Springs Christian School in Othello. The blood donation bus will be Choice Health and Wellness, Moses Lake, on Thursday and the Grant Transit Authority facility in Moses Lake next Monday and Friday. But there are plenty of chances to donate, from Moses Lake to Odessa to Quincy to Ephrata, at health organizations and private businesses. That’s just in October and November.  

People who want to donate can find a list of locations and available times on the Vitalant website, www.donors.vitalant.org. The list is searchable by zip code.  

Conner said the supply goes up and down as the seasons change.  

“With students back in school and summer behind us, blood donors are returning to donation centers as well as hosting and attending blood drives,” she wrote. “This increases the available blood on hand, but as fast as we can collect it, it is needed for patients. It is a constant game of catch-up.” 

Getting people to donate can sometimes be as simple as asking, Conner said. 

“It’s important to know the number one reason people might not donate blood is that no one asked to join them in donating,” she wrote. “That personal ask is super-important. We always encourage our donors to bring a friend, family member or coworker to their next donation.” 

The American Red Cross published an explanation of the distribution of a pint of donated blood on its website. The blood is tested, then most of it is spun in a centrifuge to separate it into components.  

Plasma is one of those components and it can be processed for more specialized applications. Red cells and platelets are treated to remove the white cells of the donor prior to use. Blood components can be stored, but only for limited periods of time.  

“Blood donors are needed every day to ensure hospitals have a ready blood supply for patients in their care,” Conner wrote.  

People who don’t or can’t donate can host a blood drive, she wrote. People who want more information can find it at the Vitalant website, vitalant.org/host-a-blood-drive.