In an Eagle report on Friday, reporter Eddie Trizzino told us that during the week of July 4, Vitalant’s national blood supply hit an 18-month low, causing an emergency shortage of donated blood across the nation, but also in Western Pennsylvania.

The Red Cross estimates 6.8 million people in the U.S. donate blood each year. That’s about 2% of the U.S. population.

The National Institutes for Health report an average of 5 million people need a blood transfusion in the U.S. each year.

While that math sounds like it should work, some patients need more blood than others, and some donated blood is unusable or is used for research and testing purposes.

Some of the trouble has to do with logistics, too. Every 2 seconds, somebody needs blood or platelets, according to the Red Cross, and the available blood supply may be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

To try to improve the statistics, blood donation clinics have been offering incentives to lure people to their donation chairs.

Vitalant encourages people to donate by emphasizing that each donation can help three patients. But also, everyone who donates blood with Vitalant through Aug. 29 will receive a $10 gift card through Donor Rewards, and will be entered into a $10,000 giveaway of a prepaid gift card of the winner’s choice, according to a news release from Vitalant.

The American Red Cross also is offering Amazon gift cards to people who donate blood in August, to meet the need for blood throughout the nation.

Vitalant had an average goal of collecting 1,118 blood donations in July in Pittsburgh, but the actual collection was 40% lower than the goal.

Blood donation can be scary and time-consuming, but for somebody in a hospital waiting for blood, it can be a matter of life or death. Likely, at some point, it has been or will be you or a loved one in need.

There are many available walk-in donation centers, appointments can be made for ease and convenience. Clinics are doing more than they should need to coax people to do the right thing: donate blood to save a life.

To find a list of upcoming blood drives, visit vitalant.org.

— RJ