Star Tribune
Pandemic still suppressing blood donations in Minnesota
Minnesota’s blood supply for surgeries and transfusions is draining, in part because companies and schools haven’t resumed collection drives that they canceled during the pandemic.
Memorial Blood Centers announced an emergency shortage Thursday that left it below the recommended five- to seven-day stockpile to ensure an adequate supply for Minnesota hospitals. Supplies were down to a day or two for type O blood that any patients can receive, and for rarer type B negative blood.
“I liken it to having a case of long COVID. It just doesn’t seem to be getting any better,” said Phil Losacker, community relations manager for Memorial, which is the primary supplier of blood products to HCMC, Children’s Minnesota and other hospitals. “Our access to donors out in the community has been severely limited.”
A shortage after any holiday is common, especially Labor Day, but a combination of factors has made this one worse and possibly longer-lasting. The American Red Cross reported last week that it was sending more blood to U.S. hospitals than it was taking in and that it received 30,000 fewer donations than expected in August.
“Many corporations don’t host blood drives (any longer) because they have remote workers,” said Sue Thesenga, a spokesperson for Red Cross’ Minnesota and Dakotas region.
Blood collection centers were concerned before the pandemic about the lack of youth to replace longtime volunteers whose donations were slowing in their senior years. Matters worsened when COVID-19 emerged and donor events were canceled or curtailed to reduce the spread of the coronavirus that causes the infectious disease.
Memorial participated in 977 fewer blood drives in the first nine months of 2023 in Minnesota compared to the same time period in 2019. The result was a 47% decline in blood units collected and a 50% decline in first-time donors, who are more likely to take part in school or workplace events.
Minnesota’s two largest trauma centers, HCMC in Minneapolis and Regions Hospital in St. Paul, reported no impact on patient care yet and said all surgeries remained as scheduled.
Emergency declarations usually drive donors and prevent hospitals from reaching such crisis points, but that isn’t ideal, said Dr. Jed Gorlin, medical director for Memorial and chief medical officer for America’s Blood Centers, a national advocacy group. “We don’t want to train the public to only come in when there are these blood emergencies. What we want is to maintain people being regular blood donors.”
Memorial is simultaneously encouraging the resumption of school and corporate events, and nudging donors from past events to make appointments at its local collection centers. Red blood cells can be donated anywhere, but platelets also are in short supply, and are needed to prevent or reduce bleeding in surgeries and treatments. Platelets can only be donated at collection centers.
John Blackford of Chanhassen felt no claustrophobia serving on Navy submarines when he was younger, but he felt too squeamish to donate until he learned he had too much iron in his blood and that it was good for his health. His blood levels stabilized long ago, but the 42-year-old got in the habit of donating and was back at Memorial’s collection center at Eden Prairie on Saturday.
“I just feel good after I do it,” he said. “It’s good to give back. Its part of my Saturday routine — I just go here, bring a newspaper, read, get it done.”
A few chairs down, Wayzata High School English teacher Kathryn Kottke was grading a stack of literature essays while donating platelets, which takes a little over an hour.
“I can’t leave,” she said. “So I’m now a captive grader.”
Donors sometimes receive gift cards, beyond the snacks and drinks to rehydrate afterward, but giving blood is mostly an unpaid service. Blood center leaders are considering more incentives to invigorate the donor population, such as Surly Brewing’s popular offer over the past decade of a pint glass and a beer voucher in exchange for a pint of blood.
The Minneapolis beermaker is hosting its next collection event from 3-8 p.m. Wednesday, and expanded capacity at Memorial’s request because of the blood shortage. Other upcoming events are listed on the Memorial and Red Cross websites.
Gorlin has short-term optimism because high schools are back in session and many still host events that will replenish the blood supply. Memorial also will gain a wider donor pool when it switches Sept. 25 to conform with new federal guidelines.
Men who are sexually active with other men were generally barred from donating because of the elevated prevalence of HIV in that population, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found earlier this year that the policy was overcautious given the precision of modern blood testing for the sexually transmitted infection.
The Red Cross switched Aug. 7 to the new federal guidance, which removes sexual orientation from consideration but still defers donations by anyone who has had anal sex in the last three months with new or multiple partners.
Long term, Gorlin remains concerned about the generational shift and the fact that younger donors aren’t replacing older ones. At 67, he estimated he has donated 30 gallons of blood products in his lifetime.
For-profit companies pay people for their plasma, the liquid component of blood, and Gorlin said that might be a consideration to kickstart a new generation of donors.
“Will we be able to maintain a donor base without paying?” he asked. “I don’t know.”
Correction:
A previous version of the photo caption for this story mistakenly said Kathryn Kottke was donating plasma at Memorial Blood Center in Eden Prairie.
Northern State 35, Concordia (St. Paul) 34: Wyatt Block’s 2-yard TD run and the PAT with 10 seconds remaining lifted the Wolves past the host Golden Bears. Block’s touchdown capped an 11-play, 72-yard drive by the Wolves, who trailed 24-7 in the second quarter. Jeff Isotalo-McGuire’s 34-yard field goal with three minutes, 32 seconds remaining gave the Golden Bears a 34-28 lead.
Winona State 31, Bemidji State 28: Cade Stenstrom rushed for two TDs and passed for 150 yards and a TD to help the host Warriors outlast the Beavers. Stenstrom’s 1-yard TD run and the PAT with two minutes, 10 seconds remaining gave the Warriors a 31-21 lead. The Beavers responded with an 11-play, 93-yard drive to pull within 31-28 with 18 seconds remaining but the Warriors recovered the ensuing kickoff.
Div. I-AA
North Dakota State 59, Murray State 6: The top-ranked Bison built a 42-3 lead in the first half and went on to defeat the host Racers in Murray, Ken. CharMar Brown ran for 97 yards and three TDs for the Bison.
South Dakota State 20, South Dakota 17 (OT): Amar Johnson’s 3-yard TD run in overtime lifted the host Jackrabbits to the victory. The Coyotes opened the OT with a 40-yard field goal.
Youngstown State 41, North Dakota 40 (OT): The host Penguins went first in OT and scored and then stopped North Dakota’s two-point conversion to hold on for the victory. The Penguins sent the game into OT on a 35-yard field goal with 12 seconds remaining.
Div. III
Augsburg 35, St. Olaf 34 (OT): The host Auggies stopped a two-point conversion in overtime to outlast the Oles. The Auggies went first in the overtime and scored on a 25-yard pass from Ryan Harvey to Tyrone Wilson. It was Harvey’s fifth TD pass — the fourth to Wilson. After the Auggies’ PAT, the Oles scored on a 25-yard TD pass from Theo Doran to Braden Menz. But the Oles’ pass attempt for the conversion failed.
After splitting their two-game West Coast trip to begin the season, the Wolves improved to 2-1 with a 112-101 win over Toronto in their home opener. It was a wire-to-wire win that featured some strong bursts of play from the Wolves and other times when their decision-making was suspect. But those moments when they were on, specifically the start of the game and most of the third quarter, were enough to carry them against a shorthanded Raptors team that was without RJ Barrett, Bruce Brown and Immanuel Quickley.
Julius Randle had 24 points while Anthony Edwards had 24 on 21 shot attempts. Donte DiVincenzo had 16 off the bench. Nickeil Alexander-Walker left the game in the fourth quarter and did not return, though he was in the bench area for the final minutes after going to the locker room briefly.
The Wolves’ starting lineup had its best stretch of basketball on the season after that unit started off sluggish in the first two games. Mike Conley, who was 3-for-16 to open the year, hit two early threes to set the tone, though Conley would finish 2-for-8.
Donte DiVincenzo replaced him at point guard halfway through the quarter and continued the hot shooting from the point guard slot with three threes of his own. The Wolves forced five Toronto turnovers and had a 32-18 lead after one.
Coach Chris Finch toyed with some different lineup combinations in the first half as he had Conley and DiVincenzo begin the quarter together while having Joe Ingles run the point later in the quarter. It led to an uneven second, and the Wolves led 56-44 at halftime.
But the Wolves played inspired coming out of the break. Jaden McDaniels, who didn’t take a shot in the first half, had nine points in the opening minutes of the third. Edwards hit a pair of threes as they pushed their lead to 22. The Wolves weren’t sharp closing the night, and the Raptors had the game within right inside of two minutes, but the Wolves had built enough of a cushion.
Rudy Gobert. Gobert had 15 points and 13 rebounds and was the beneficiary of some lobs from his teammates like Edwards, Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Joe Ingles. Gobert also finished with four blocks.
Gobert had two blocks on one possession in the fourth quarter that got the crowd off its feet and Gobert pounding his chest. Gobert blocked D.J. Carton and Jamison Battle.
Star Tribune
Trump denigrates Detroit while appealing for votes in a suburb of Michigan’s largest city
NOVI, Mich. — Donald Trump further denigrated Detroit while appealing for votes Saturday in a suburb of the largest city in swing state Michigan.
”I think Detroit and some of our areas makes us a developing nation,” the former president told supporters in Novi. He said people want him to say Detroit is ”great,” but he thinks it ”needs help.”
The Republican nominee for the White House had told an economic group in Detroit earlier this month that the ”whole country will end up being like Detroit” if Democrat Kamala Harris wins the presidency. That comment drew harsh criticism from Democrats who praised the city for its recent drop in crime and growing population.
Trump’s stop in Novi, after an event Friday night in Traverse City, is a sign of Michigan’s importance in the tight race. Harris is scheduled for a rally in Kalamazoo later Saturday with former first lady Michelle Obama on the first day that early in-person voting becomes available across Michigan. More than 1.4 million ballots have already been submitted, representing 20% of registered voters. Trump won the state in 2016, but Democrat Joe Biden carried it four years later.
Michigan is home to major car companies and the nation’s largest concentration of members of the United Auto Workers. It also has a significant Arab American population, and many have been frustrated by the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza after the attack by Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
During his rally, Trump spotlighted local Muslim and Arab American leaders who joined him on stage. These voters ”could turn the election one way or the other,” Trump said, adding that he was banking on ”overwhelming support” from those voters in Michigan.
“When President Trump was president, it was peace,” said one of those leaders, Mayor Bill Bazzi of Dearborn Heights. ”We didn’t have any issues. There was no wars.”
While Trump is trying to capitalize on the community’s frustration with the Democratic administration, he has a history of policies hostile to this group, including a travel ban targeting Muslim countries while in office and a pledge to expand it to include refugees from Gaza if he wins on Nov. 5.
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