DATE: Wednesday, September 10, 1997         TAG: 9709100553

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT 

                                            LENGTH:   55 lines

BLOOD SUPPLY EBBS FOR TYPE O; RED CROSS SEEKS MORE

The American Red Cross has issued a national appeal for blood donations, warning that two-thirds of its regions, including Hampton Roads, have less than two days' supply of a critical donor type.

Twenty-five of 38 regions across the country have no more than 1 1/2 days' supply of type O blood, said Michael Fulwider, a spokesman at Red Cross headquarters in Virginia.

Virginia and North Carolina are experiencing ``restricted supplies'' of type O negative, said Becky Baker, spokeswoman for the Red Cross Mid-Atlantic Region in Norfolk.

The region serves 3.3 million people in 87 counties in the two states, Baker said. It supplies blood to 58 hospitals.

As of late Tuesday, the region had about 1 1/2 days' supply of O negative, or 34 pints, Baker said.

``We like to have 50 pints on the shelf,'' she said. Anything below 27 pints would be considered an emergency shortage.

Type O blood is especially valued. O-negative, found in only 6 percent of Americans, can be given to any patient.

O-positive, found in 39 percent of Americans, can be transfused into anyone with positive blood types, some 86 percent of the population.

Summer shortages have affected nearly 30 regions, from the Pacific Northwest to Puerto Rico.

Blood donations tend to fall in July, August and September, as people go on vacation, said Baker. More traumas may occur in summer because people are especially active and children are out of school, she added.

``A particularly good Labor Day weekend turnout'' pushed most blood levels back up in the mid-Atlantic region, Baker said, and supplies of other types remained steady this week.

But donors are always needed.

``We never know what catastrophe is going to hit,'' Baker said. ``We can never guess our demand.''

A year ago, experts said, some 8 million Americans were donating 14 million pints of blood every year. But they represent less than 5 percent of those healthy enough to give, and advocates blame everyone else's unwillingness on everything from the fear of AIDS to the aging of patriotic Americans who began donating in World War II.

Blood is perishable, good for only 42 days, so hospitals need a constant supply. MEMO: This story was compiled from reports by staff writer Pat Dooley

and The Associated Press.

TO HELP

To donate blood, you must be 17 or older, weigh at least 110 pounds

and be in good overall health.

For dates and locations of local drives, call the Red Cross'

toll-free hot line at (800) GIVE-LIFE.

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