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Blood shortage opens vein of donors Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Nurse Connie Cummings checks the blood pressure of Colin Swales during a blood drive in Ashland Friday. Public response helped ease a Red Cross "red alert" declared this week because of tight regional and national blood supply. Red Cross eases �red alert� as volunteers line up to give pints By David Preszler ASHLAND � Audrey Williams hasn�t given blood in a few years, but she decided to give it a shot on Friday. "I was driving home from lunch and saw the sign," the Ashland woman said. She�d also seen newspaper reports of the blood supply shortage and wanted to see if she could help. So she stopped into Friday�s drive at United Methodist Church of Ashland. A flood of donors like Williams has eased the blood supply crisis declared earlier this week by the American Red Cross. Rogue Valley blood drives easily surpassed their goals and helped stabilize the regional supply, officials said Friday. "It�s been an incredible week," said Judith Stevens, a spokesman for Red Cross blood donor services in Medford. The Red Cross lifted its "red alert" for the Pacific Northwest on Friday, downgrading to a "yellow alert." Despite the downgrade, officials say more blood is still needed headed into Labor Day weekend � a time when accidents typically rise. But officials have been thrilled with the public�s response at this week�s drives. "We�ve been so busy we haven�t had a chance to catch our breaths," said Pamela Tennity, the head nurse at Friday�s drive. For the week, local efforts exceeded the goal by 95 500-milliliter units, Tennity said. Friday�s drive brought in 71 units, 11 more than the goal. The call for blood brought out both regular donors and not-so-regular ones. Ashland�s Mary Cook hadn�t given blood in decades but decided to come in on Friday. "I heard on the news they needed blood," she said. "I have a friend, several friends, who have cancer and I thought this was a way to help them." Merl and Patty Miller, who moved to Ashland in June, are longtime donors. "I�ve done it for years," said Merl Miller, donating blood for the 148th time. "It always makes me feel a lot better to do it," said his wife, Patty, who made her 54th donation. "It�s one of the nicest things you can do for people that doesn�t take too much time." The time it took to donate blood was an issue for several people during the recent drives. Some said the wait was too long, and that even having an appointment didn�t get you in and out quickly. Red Cross officials said waits have been longer this week because of the strong response and that they don�t have the additional staff to cover it. "Our staffing doesn�t increase but the number of donors increases," said Stevens. "(People) have to keep in mind the reason they are here. It�s a sacrifice but we appreciate it." Stevens said the delays can be particularly difficult on working people but officials are doing their best. Tennity said it takes time to train additional staff, so it�s hard to add extra people on short notice. She said she hasn�t heard many complaints and the staff has worked hard to accommodate people. Expectations are part of the problem. Tennity said some people expect to be in and out in 30 minutes. The reality is that between the information donors have to read, the questionnaire they must fill out, the medical screening, the 20 to 25 minutes actually giving blood and the 10 minutes required after the donation, it�s at least twice that. "Even with an appointment, it�s an hour," she said. Donors at Friday�s drive didn�t have much of a wait. For his part, Merl Miller doesn�t think donor inconvenience is much of an issue. "When Christ gave the sermon on the mount, people said they didn�t have time to go," he said. "People always have an excuse." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA