Editorial: Essential donations

Friday, Aug. 12, 2005 | 9:10 a.m.

For Brenda Hughes, a 53-year-old retired lab technician, donating blood is part of a monthly ritual. Hughes says it provides her the opportunity to give something back to the community. She also adds that she can read a book during the procedure, which lasts about 40 minutes. It's great that Hughes and other Las Vegans are donating blood, but not enough other people in the valley are doing so -- far from it.

In fact, there is a severe blood shortage in Nevada. It has gotten so bad that Gov. Kenny Guinn on Wednesday issued a statewide Emergency Blood Shortage Alert for Type-O blood. This means blood banks in Nevada have just a one-day supply of Type-O blood, both negative and positive. Type-O negative is highly sought after, particularly for use in emergency rooms, because it can be used for any patient no matter their blood type. The shortage, as the Las Vegas Sun's Stephen Curran reported Thursday, might mean that local hospitals may have to draw from their own emergency supplies so doctors don't have to postpone or even cancel voluntary surgeries.

In the past, Las Vegas has shown that it is a caring community, providing donations of all kinds -- money, food, goods and time -- when people are hurting, especially after disasters. This is a time when the community needs people to act now -- through donating blood -- in order to avert tragedy. We hope more people follow the lead of Las Vegans such as Brenda Hughes.