The number of blood donations continues to drop in the U.S., which has some federal health officials concerned about the implications, according to a KIRO 7 news report.
Across the country, about 60 percent of regular donors are over the age of 40 and 45 percent of them are over 50 years old. As a result, health officials are concerned that the key donor pool is beginning to age out.
Bloodworks Northwest CEO and President James AuBuchon, MD, will head to Capitol Hill next week with federal health officials to discuss what he calls a growing national problem.
"We are concerned that this could grow to a point that people don't have blood when they need it," Dr. AuBuchon told KIRO 7. "We need 900 donors a day and we are not getting that."
To help address the problem, Bloodworks has launched a mobile app in an effort to attract millennial donors. The app helps users locate blood banks nearby on their smartphones.