Prevent Blood Shortages: College Blood Drives
This past summer the American Red Cross faced a critical shortage of blood due to low donation levels and depletion of supplies. We can all do our part to assist in the collection of blood that is a vital resource to people nationwide. College and university students that are willing and able to donate, both their time and blood, need assistance to facilitate the process. Students do not have much time to search or travel to other locales to donate. Campuses can do their part by hosting monthly blood drives on mobile units near dorms or student unions thereby providing students an opportunity to contribute this much needed resource. Including incentives (provided by the host campus) will attract other students who have never donated before and will create a larger donor base and repeat donors.
Your concern for improving trauma outcomes is laudable. Better outcomes would seem to be obtained by training all physicians to learn non-blood surgical techniques. These result in better long-term outcomes, shorter hospital stays, and fewer complications according to the medical literature.
Virtually any surgery can be performed without blood using proper care and techniques. These are documented as well. Blood is the most dangerous substance administered in medicine. It is a primary disease vector. Name another one of those that is used as a front line trauma therapy. It is ignorance that results in blood being used as often as it is. That, and it is big business. See this story for one example: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/blood-bank-merger-announced-hospitals...
The number of situations where it can be determined that there's absolutely no alternative are a small fraction of the total.
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