Katie Wyer is lucky to be alive.
Three years ago, after an accidental shooting July 6, 2004, she was airlifted to the roof of the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.
“The doctors here are some of the best doctors anywhere, but they can?t do anything if there isn?t blood,” said Weyer, 19.
Shock trauma chief Dr. Thomas Scalea led the team of surgeons who worked to restore the Howard County teenager?s collapsed lungs. He was helped by about 50 anonymous blood donors.
“She was shot in the chest by a boy playing with a gun,” said her mother, Susan Weyer. “Katie received well over 50 units of blood and blood products.”
If the teen had been shot this Fourth of July, it may have been a different story. Blood banks are running with less than a half-day?s worth of some of the most critical supplies, including all Type O blood.
“We?re skating on thin ice,” Scalea said Monday at a Red Cross news conference at the University of Maryland Medical Center. This Fourth of July strained hospital resources, including the blood bank.
“Nobody wakes up and says, ?Today?s my day to go to the shock trauma center.? ” Scalea said. “But 7,500 times this year, that?s what?s going to happen. For no other reason than today it might be you, you should call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE and give blood.”
While accidental shootings are rare, car accidents rise with the summer temperatures, said Dr. Robert Bass, director of the Maryland Institute of Emergency Medical Services Systems. More cars on the road equal more accidents that may require life-saving infusions of blood.
“June, July and August are our peak months for car crashes,” Bass said.
But with minds wandering to their upcoming beach outing, few people think about donating blood, said Gary Ouellette, chief executive officer of the Greater Chesapeake and Potomac Region of the American Red Cross.
“Summer is the time when people are going on vacation,” he said. “They?re with their family and very often focused on other things. All eligible donors are asked to donate as soon as possible.”
