Number of donors nearly doubles at Monday’s drive

It?s being considered one of the best summer blood drives in Rogers City in a long, long, time. About 78 pints were collected from the 92 donors who stayed for the drive at Westminster Presbyterian Church Monday. Eighteen more people left after seeing the long line of people, and learning of a delay of a couple of hours.

Jack Smitka, blood drive coordinator for several years, can?t remember the last time 110 people turned out. Not since January 2001 had so many pints of blood been collected in Rogers City.

IT WAS A combination of young people, some between the ages of 17 and 22, giving for the first time, and seasoned regulars, who have given gallons of blood over the years, making the event a success. Smitka said there were seven first-time donors, while Joe Smith of Rogers City received his eighth gallon pin. Donors receive a pin each time they reach the gallon milestone. Smith, who has been giving blood since 1948 and will be celebrating his 60th wedding anniversary in August, said ?now more than ever,? people need to give.

This comes on the heels of one of the worst collection days in Rogers City, when 43 usable pints were collected in May. Plus, the American Red Cross declared an emergency in northern Michigan.

Paul Sobeck of Rogers City has been giving since 1968, and is two pints short of reaching the 10 gallon mark. Sobeck regularly gives because he knows it will help someone. Sobeck encountered a delay, unlike he is used to, because of the overwhelming response of the community. He arrived at 4:20 p.m., not having made an appointment, but didn?t leave until 6:20 p.m.

?Normally, it?s only an hour wait,? Sobeck said. But for some, the wait was even longer. Smitka said one of the reasons for the back-up was the Red Cross wasn?t prepared for the turnout. ?If the goal is 60, they send enough nurses to handle 60,? said Smitka. ?But when you get 40 more, they just can?t handle it.?.

SMITKA DISCUSSED the long waits, which reached two-and-a-half-hours for some people, with Red Cross officials in Petoskey. ?They are aware of the fact that they had to wait a long time,? he said. ?Sometimes they just don?t have the nurses to send, because they have blood drives in other parts of the state.? Another part of the delay is a mandate from the Federal Drug Administration. Nurses have to inquire about the history of donors, which takes between 15 and 30 minutes. West Nile Virus and SARS have also put the Red Cross on alert and lengthened the list of questions. Smitka said the Red Cross is working with the FDA in an attempt to streamline the process.

?ONE OF THEM (questions) was, have you ever had jaundice after you were 11 years old,? said Sm

itka. ?If you answered that once, in the next phase, you won?t have to answer that again. ?They hope that when they go to phase two, that the time involved in taking your history will be reduced.? Plus, some nurses require donors to read several pages of information. Smitka said there are regulars who have read it several times. ?They shouldn?t have to even bother with them, unless there is something new,? said Smitka. Some people are annoyed at that. They?re aware of the problems.? The increased use of computers, which have only been utilized for six months by the Red Cross, is expected to speed up the process.

For the next drive in September, Smith is encouraging donors to make appointments. People with appointments were able to go past 12 to 13 walk-in donors at Monday?s blood drive.