January is National Blood Donor Month, and it couldn't have come at a more desperate time.

On July 25th of 2016, the American Red Cross released an official warning to the public that they were experiencing a critical shortage of blood donations, and sent out a nationwide emergency request for volunteers of all blood types to donate blood.

Nick Gehrig, Communications Director of the American Red Cross Blood Services, warned of the importance of continually stocking their supplies. "The Red Cross continues to have an emergency need for blood and platelet donors to give now and help save patient lives."

Though the summer has come and gone, and we are well underway into the winter of 2017, that does not mean we are in the clear. The fact that the Red Cross experienced a shortage, that there was a probability that some patients would not be able to receive a complete treatment because there was a blood supply shortage, is something we need to make sure does not happen again.

In the U.S. alone, there is a patient who requires blood every two seconds, an average of about 36,000 blood units used on a daily basis. And the demands for blood donations only increase, as we continue to make medical and technological advancements in treatment that require an extra supply of blood and platelets.

But 36,000 units a day, with all of the people living in the U.S....that doesn't really seem like a lot, right?

If everyone can donate 1 pint of blood every 56 days, and there about 325.3 million people in the U.S., then the Red Cross could possibly collect a total of about 2.068 billion pints of blood each year, a lot more than the 13.1 million pints demanded for, on average, each year.

So why is there a shortage? There's clearly plenty of this stuff to go around.

Well, it's not that simple.

Due to health issues and possible blood-transferable health conditions, only about 38% of the U.S. population is eligible to give blood. So that brings our 325.3 million down to about 97.6 million people. But that still equals out to about 636.14 million pints of blood collected per year, supply still overpowering demand.

But what deals the devastating blow, and forces the American Red Cross to continually put out warnings of blood shortages and strong requests for more, is that of the 38% eligible donators, only about 10% donate each year, and on average only donate once a year.

Yikes.

So we're now down to only about 32.5 million pints collected each year. And its important to remember that donations aren't all the universal Type O-. There might be an overwhelming amount of Type B blood on supply, but if most of the patients during a particular time are all Type A patients, the Type B blood in stock isn't going to be of much help.

So as we begin to delve into our New Year's Resolutions, or already begin to put an end to them, maybe let's make a promise that for once, doesn't benefit ourselves, but does something even greater.

It saves a life.

So that 38 percentile, I'm talking to you.

If we all donated at least once this year, the American Red Cross would have almost 7 and a half times that average amount of blood in demand each year.

And for all you lovely people out there who do already donate once a year, maybe squeeze in a second donation. We can donate blood every 56 days, or about about 6 times a year.

Just by donating, you're ensuring the continuation of a life.

The potential of life of a future president, the future curer of cancer, your future spouse, your best friend or even possibly, your own life.

So celebrate the new year and the beautiful month of January, and donate.

Citations:

The American Red Cross. "Celebrate National Blood Donor Month." The American Red Cross. American Red Cross, Sept. 2015. Web. 07 Jan. 2017. .