While summertime is a care-free period of relaxation for many, San Antonio hospitals are anything but relaxed as the temperature rises. Right now, countless surgeries are being postponed by local hospitals due to a low blood supply. It does not have to be this way. You can help local hospitals and patients by taking just a few minutes out of your day to donate blood.
Your San Antonio Chamber of Commerce is partnering with the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center (STBTC) to help increase blood donations. With the launch of our “SA Steps Up Challenge”, we invite all member businesses to a friendly competition to encourage employees to donate this summer, a time when blood donations usually decrease. The Chamber and STBTC will be using #SAStepsUp on social media to promote this initiative.
“When STBTC shared with us that over the past several years, business-sponsored drives had dropped and employee donations at those drives had also declined, we knew the Chamber could help,” our CEO & President Richard Perez said. “The blood supply in our area is a public health concern, and public health concerns affect the business community in San Antonio.”
We implore you to host a drive with a goal of 20 percent participation from your staff. If your business successfully reaches this goal, it will be honored with plaques at the STBTC donor pavilion. Your business could have a significant impact on the blood supply this summer. Donations nationwide are currently at a 30-year low, with a 21% drop since 2012 alone.
It would be pressing enough if STBTC was only facing a decline in donations, but this summer is more complicated than recent ones. Our blood supply has never been more at risk than today.
“Summer always is an especially tough time for blood donations because students are out of school and people are on vacations,”Elizabeth Waltman, COO of STBTC, said. “This summer is starting out especially challenging. Not only are we contending with the threat of the Zika virus but there has been extraordinary usage of blood recently because of an increase in trauma and organ transplants.”
This blood supply issue is a workforce issue, our 2016 Chairman Renee Flores says. “An adequate and safe blood supply is vital for any employer so that employees can have access to treatment that will help keep our workforce healthy,” Flores said. “It’s especially critical as we seek to continue to support and grow the healthcare and bioscience sector in our city. It is in the best interest of the business community to step up and do its part.”
Join us in this challenge and encourage your staff to donate as much as they can. Together, with all of our members, we can collectively make a difference for San Antonio’s blood supply.
“Our goal is to have our members make a dent in any blood shortage this summer,” Richard Perez added. “We all should be interested in supporting public health in our city.”
If you want to learn more about blood donation, visit STBTC's at their website.
