A blood supply shortage in the US has reached a “crisis” level, according to the American Red Cross, which says it is the second time in its 150-year history that levels have been this low.
Factors including wildfires and extreme heat have combined to create the current situation, Dr Courtney Lawrence, who works with the American Red Cross, told the BBC.
Supply levels dropped by a quarter just last month. The crisis has struck during summer, when the amount of blood needed by hospitals typically increases.
That is because of an increased number of car accidents and more people spending time outdoors, resulting in more injuries that require blood transfusions, Lawrence said.
What about people who can’t donate blood, or can’t do so without great inconvenience? Where do you draw the line for moral responsibility?
What about people who have a phobia of needles, suffered from medical abuse, or have adverse reactions to donating blood that makes them sick for a few days or weeks?
If we are talking about people who contribute to other’s health through their own bodies, does that mean every mother is at the top of the list because birthing a baby is a contribution to another’s health?
What about medical workers working 12hr shifts and completely wrecking their own bodies in the process? Is that a lesser contribution than someone who donates blood once a month? To go further, where would you put a factory worker with repetitive strain injury who makes the medical equipment that is essential to treating others?
If we want to allot the use of blood based on one’s contribution of their bodies, we have to first ask what it means to contribute. No donor lives in a vacuum. If you can donate blood, it means you are supported by circumstances that leave you in good enough health to donate blood.
I think a better solution is to pass a law requiring that blood donors receive a check equal to half of whatever the hospital charges the patient that receives the donated blood. As long as we’re going to have a for profit healthcare system, blood donors should be paid just like anyone else.