SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – The buzzing from a bunch of these blood donation machines is something Rick Krukowski and Laura Sauer are used to.
“Well, every chance I get,” Krukowski said.
“And today was my 45th donation so very cool,” Sauer said.
Aside from being a specific club for donating blood…
“Well I’m in the Gallons Club over at the Blood Bank so, quite a bit,” Krukowski said.
The same thing he’s doing now helped after a car crash on the I-5 in 2004.
“I had an incident where I was on the side of the freeway, bled out and flat-lined So, without blood donors I wouldn’t be here today. So I have to do it,” Krukowski said.
Sauer’s been an oncology nurse for 25 years; trying to encourage more people to get into the chair.
“Not only is it physically saving lives, it’s making lives actually better. So, for me it’s such a beautiful thing to do,” Sauer said.
But not everyone is doing it.
“The Red Cross is currently experiencing an emergency blood shortage as the nation faces the lowest amount of donors that we’ve seen in 20 years,” Dana Simmons, Regional Communications Manager for American Red Cross - Southern California, said.
Simmons told ABC 10News that San Diego is also seeing the same level as the nationwide.
She said since the pandemic the Red Cross is seeing a 300,000 decrease in blood donors nationwide.
“We typically do community blood drives where we are going to people’s offices and they’re seeing us, we’re coming to them so they can donate. Since more people are working remote, we may not just be seeing those people anymore,” Simmons said.
The shortage numbers are upsetting to some.
“It’s a shame. Hopefully, lives aren’t lost because of a result of this shortage,” Krukowski said.
“It’s sad. It’s really hard to tell people who know their lives are depending on this blood that they can’t get enough,” Sauer said.
The Red Cross here, nationwide and those sitting in the chair are hoping for more to donate blood and platelets amid this donor shortage.
“There’s nothing better in the world than helping somebody else out you may not even know,” Krukowski said.
