MIDWESTERNERS TRULY BLEED FOR NEEDY SOUTHLANDERS.

Byline: Susan Abram

Staff Writer

WOODLAND HILLS -- In the voluntary world of blood-giving, Lizbeth Estrada is a gold mine and a lifeline.

She is a healthy 18-year-old. She has type O-positive blood, a good match for nearly 40 percent of Americans. And she is a generous donor, having given three times before.

"I like to give blood," the Pierce College student said at a recent drive. "I feel good because I know I'm helping someone."

But she is an anomaly, especially in Southern California, where lifestyle trends, traffic, geography and an increasingly diverse population with distinct cultural beliefs make the region one of the nation's most unreliable for blood donation.

"We don't have a blood shortage; we have a blood donor shortage," said Teresa Solorio, spokeswoman for the American Red Cross, Southern California region.

Of 50 Southern Californians who walk into a blood drive to donate, 20 don't pass health exams, according to Red Cross estimates, which means their blood can't be taken.

As a result, 40 percent of the blood used in the Southland is imported from places where donating is still seen as a civic duty, such as Nebraska and Ohio.

After deferrals for health, travel and other reasons, Southern California -- with about 24 million people -- supplies about 3 percent of the national blood supply.

Ohioans major donors

By contrast, Ohio -- with a population of 11.5 million -- supplies 7 percent of the nation's blood. The national state average is 5 percent.

With spring here, blood- donor organizations are gearing up for drives to help avoid the summertime drought -- and the numbers are daunting.

"In a city like Los Angeles (collecting blood) is tougher," said Celso Bianco, vice president for America's Blood Centers, which supplies half the country with blood.

Part of the reason is diversity. There is some cultural aversion to giving blood, especially among first-generation immigrants, said Vincent Yalon, administrative director for Stanford University's Blood Center.

"Some people believe that to donate blood is to lose a part of yourself -- your spirit," he said.

And there are other issues as well, from a fear of needles, to a fear of contracting disease, to a misconception that giving blood causes infertility, Solorio said.

"I remember talking to one lady who said, 'I don't want to give blood because I don't want to gain weight,'" Solorio said.

In addition, some volunteers are turned away from donating for various health reasons. A 2007 study in the journal Transfusion found that about 37 percent of the U.S. population is currently eligible to donate blood -- 60 million fewer people than previously believed.

In Southern California, at least five would-be donors a month are turned away because blood tests reveal they have Chagas' disease, brought on by the bite of insects found in Central and South American countries, that causes potentially deadly heart problems.

And some are deferred for years from giving blood because of U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations.

Travel problems

"There is an increase of more people being deferred, mostly because more people are traveling," Bianco said. "Resorts are cheaper and people are traveling to malarial areas."

Those who travel to countries where malaria is found must wait a year before giving blood, and those who lived in a country where malaria is found can't donate for three years.

People who have spent long periods in Great Britain, where mad cow disease has been present, are not eligible to donate at all.

Tattoos, an L.A. fashion staple, are another problem. Under FDA regulations, the recently branded can't give blood for a year.

But some rules remain controversial, most notably an FDA regulation banning gay men from giving blood because of the possibility of passing on HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The issue has raised questions about blood testing and transfusion safety, Bianco and others said.

"Incidence of HIV among gay men is much higher, but also there has been tremendous improvement in tests, in the ways we identify those at risk," Bianco said. "The concern is the window period, when the infection can take place."

Meanwhile, local hospitals remain challenged in maintaining supplies of red blood cells, platelets and plasma in case of an emergency.

In January, there was a critical blood shortage at Northridge Hospital Medical Center's emergency room and trauma center after a patient needed open-heart surgery.

"We started our day with our normal amount of (type) O red cells," said Susan Pollack, blood bank supervisor for Northridge. "In the late afternoon, a single patient used 36 group O red cells. After contacting our primary supplier (the American Red Cross) and other local blood centers, we were unable to replenish our supply during the evening and night."

At such times, medical centers have to buy blood from suppliers, which can cost $205 a unit, Bianco said.

Donor incentives

As a result, the Red Cross periodically sends letters to hospitals, reminding them to be more frugal with type 0-negative blood.

Blood banks are focused on several solutions, but paying donors isn't one of them.

"We don't like the idea because part of the donor selection includes providing medical history," Bianco said. "If you pay a donor, you may be forcing them to lie."

So the Red Cross and America's Blood Centers have come up with other ways.

"Last month, if people gave blood, they received a $10 gift certificate to Mimi's Cafe," Solorio said. "Sometimes, we have little drawings."

Both also are trying various marketing plans to expand collections to minority groups that have not been part of the donor base. Bianco said his organization is launching a site on Facebook.com.

"If we collected blood through the Internet, if we could stick an arm through the computer screen," he said, "there wouldn't be shortages."

susan.abram(at)dailynews.com

818-713-3664

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Vincent Chang talks with a medical assistant while he donates blood during a Red Cross drive at Pierce College. He is among the relatively few donors in the Southland, which must import much of the blood it needs.

(2 -- color) Fernando Diaz gets a wrap on his arm after donating blood during a recent American Red Cross blood drive at Pierce College.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

Box:

Blood facts

SOURCE: American Red Cross; University of Stanford School of Medicine

Gregg Miller/Staff Artist