_{Written by Lucy Weber, Red Cross Volunteer}

Across the nation, the American Red Cross has over 30 medical directors who bring years of medical knowledge and expertise to our blood collections. For the Pacific Northwest, Dr. Trainor serves as our knowledgeable medical director. He started working at the American Red Cross in 2001 and continued there until 2007, when family commitments took him to the East Coast and he later returned to the Pacific Northwest in 2023.

Dr. Trainor draws his community service inspiration from his dad. Heavily involved in his community, Dr. Trainor’s dad did anything he could to help others. One of the ways he chose to support his community was advocating for blood donations. Dr. Trainor ‘s father was particularly squeamish around the topic of blood; he couldn’t see or be around it. So instead of donating, he supported blood drives by going to the drives and parking cars. In addition to helping out with logistics, he was a cheerleader for other people who were considering donating or were nervous donating blood. 

When asked why blood donations were so important for hospitals, Dr. Trainor explained, “Blood is an essential part of a lot of therapeutic treatments. We all know about emergencies and we know about surgeries. But as we advance cancer care forward, some of these therapies really require the patients to be transfused frequently over a long period of time with a variety of blood products. It’s not just the red cells. These patients need platelets, these patients need plasma, and they need it over an extended period of time while they’re undergoing cancer therapy, and that is probably the biggest growing area of need in the hospitals, and within that would be bone marrow transplants.”

Dr. Trainor stressed the need for blood donations of any type. We tend to emphasize Type O because it’s the universal red cell type, and healthcare workers can administer it do patients in emergency situations where there isn’t time to test their blood type. As a result, hospitals go through Type O more quickly. However, Dr. Trainor emphasized that Type O isn’t the only blood we need, stating “…other blood types are needed for different products. The demand for AB plasma is particularly high, and for platelets we utilize a lot of Group A and B donors. So we use all blood types, but the challenge is matching what we collect to the recipient needs, and that’s why power reds help us out so much because it it really boosts the amount of group O red cells we’re able to collect.” 

We also discussed the importance of having a diverse donor base. Dr. Trainor explained, “So it’s really important for us to match the blood types of our recipients, the patients in the hospital, with the donors, and the best way to do that is to collect from donors who represent the patient mix in the hospital. And since there’s a diverse group of patients in the hospital, we really want to have as diverse as possible a group of donors for those patients that are transfused repeatedly. They can make antibodies, which are proteins that are directed against molecules on the red cell surface, and generally the best match for those individuals are individuals who are most genetically similar to them, and we find them with ethnically similar patients.” 

Blood donations don’t always go directly to hospitals. Life Flight and other companies like it provide emergency critical care transportation and rely on blood donations to administer care before the patient can get to the hospital. Dr. Trainor explained that traumatic injury patient outcomes are improved when emergency services are able to complete a blood transfusion in the field. When emergency services carry more blood, the positive impact on patient outcomes is massive. 

Many people have a fear of needles or blood that makes them hesitant to donate. Dr. Trainor offered some expert advice to help those people overcome their concerns, “…learn about blood donation. You can go online. You can Google it. You can look at YouTube Videos, we all have a fear of the unknown, but when you learn the process and you understand what the benefit is, it becomes easier to get over that hurdle…I think everyone who donates for the first time is nervous…for the majority of individuals, blood donation becomes part of their routine, it becomes a lifelong activity. It’s something that they actually appreciate getting the opportunity to donate.”

There are theories that donating blood has health benefits, but one of the greatest benefits Dr. Trainor found was the opportunity to get a mini physical. The blood donation process measures your pulse, blood pressure, and temperature. Those vitals give you information about your health. For example, a donor with high blood pressure, which may not cause symptoms at the time of donation, would know to see a doctor before the condition worsens. 

Dr. Trainor often offers his medical expertise on the spot, stating, “When a donor presents and they have a particularly high blood pressure, staff will actually call me from the drive. So when the donor is right there, they will put the donor on the phone, and I will speak to the donor, and I will ask, did they know that they had a historically high blood pressure? Do they take medications? And then we will provide them with their actual blood pressure readings, and say ‘we recommend you call your healthcare provider.’ ” 

The Red Cross appreciates its donors, but we aren’t the only ones. In closing, Dr. Trainor gave us a little reminder of the positive impact one donor can have, “There are children in the hospital who are getting blood products, and I can’t tell you how appreciative their parents are. There are individuals who are undergoing surgery or cancer therapy who rely on these blood products, and they are appreciative…remember, there are individuals who really appreciate the blood that the donor might not meet, but they’re there and they are appreciative.”

Dr. Trainor is here to remind us that donating blood is a life-saving act. If you’ve been hesitant to donate in the past, let Dr. Trainor, and his father before him, motivate you to give. Find a blood drive near you and schedule your donation at redcrossblood.org.