The Coachella Valley blood supply is low, and we all should answer the donation call

Al Franco | Palm Springs Desert Sun

Show Caption Hide Caption Donors turnout for La Quinta blood drive Donors turnout to give blood at the La Quinta Wellness Center during a LifeStream blood drive. (July 15, 2017)

I tried to donate blood a few years back.

I was so bad at the process – my veins gave out before delivering even half the requested pint despite a handful of different puncture attempts – that the phlebotomist at the clinic I visited asked me to not come back.

Yes, that is an exaggeration. My unsuccessful experience did sour me on the process, however – especially since my wife, a donor since college, gave up her pint that day in record time and was urged to return every couple months to deposit more of her rare type.

My mind has been completely changed on this vital subject, due in part to a medical procedure I had to have since then that drove home the need for a robust community blood supply and the fact that the Coachella Valley currently is seeing a shortage of blood products.

MORE: Desert community can be self-sustaining when it comes to blood needs

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Our need is intense right now as those who make up seasonal visitors have gone back to their other homes. Fewer people means fewer donations.

The ongoing need for blood supplies is anything but just a desert concern, however. Here are some facts from the American Red Cross’ redcrossblood.org website:

Every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood.

Less than 38 percent of the U.S. population can give blood, and vital blood and platelets can only come from a donor; these products cannot be manufactured.

A single donation can save three lives. A single car accident victim can require up to 100 pints of blood.

Shelf life is fairly short – red blood cells must be used within 42 days of donation; platelets must be used within five days.

As a child, I was hit by a pickup truck as I rode my bike home from baseball practice. It was the spring of my fourth-grade year and my own recollection of the accident remains cloudy to this day.

Family at my bedside in Blythe’s Palo Verde Hospital ER assure me that my head, which I apparently landed on, was a bloody mess. I have a curved, baseball seam-type scar at the crown of my scalp as a permanent reminder.

I was just 9 years old.

Though I can’t recall the specifics of my treatment, I remember staring in morbid fascination at the large, darkened blood stain at the spot of the collision around the corner from my house in Blythe after I returned from the Loma Linda University Medical Center (I had been airlifted there). That grim marker, which I went by every day, remained there for a long time.

All the blood that I’d lost had to be replaced by the gift that had been generously given earlier by someone.

My point: If, like me, you had a less than stellar experience trying to donate blood in the past, get over it and try again. This is that important. WILL your veins to stay the course and give up that vital pint. We’ll all be better off for it.

Nonprofit blood center LifeStream is conducting a summer blood drive. For more information, call (800) 879-4484 or visit www.lstream.org.

Well in the Desert wants to be a good neighbor Volunteers and friends of the Palm Springs-based charity began cleaning up their new drop-in and cooling center downtown and say they would like to clean neighboring businesses in a demonstration of their solidarity with the community.

Summer is here

Thursday was the first day of summer. Cheers!

On that note, please remember that being safe also means staying cool. The Coachella Valley and much of our entire desert region was roasting under yet another excessive heat warning on Friday. It's a safe bet that we’ll see triple-digit temperatures on many, if not most, days from here until fall.

Organizations such as community and senior centers open their doors to all in need during such heat emergencies. Call your local center or city hall for information on sites near you.

Find a list of such cooling centers here.

Email Opinion Editor Al Franco at al.franco@desertsun.com.