I arrived in Utkeagvik in 1972 to nurse at the Barrow Indian Health Service hospital. We weren’t a big facility. 13 beds plus one bed for pre and post delivery and a small area for babies. Our lab tech did x-rays and blood work and anything else they could throw at her. We all did everything else you could throw at us. We had to. There were only a couple flights a week in and out of town. There was no North Slope Borough or medivacs through the Borough’s Search and Rescue Department. And there was no blood bank that served us because we had no way to keep blood sent to us. So we didn’t get blood sent to us. We were all – every person in town – walking blood banks. The lab tech had index cards with blood types for people who knew their blood types for whatever reason. And if there was an accident that required transfusions, word went out in town. If we didn’t know the person’s type who needed the blood, we looked for universal donors among our walking blood banks.
That was a long, long time ago. But it was a time we should all try not to forget. We should especially remember it as Gov. Dunleavy vetoes money that would allow our statewide blood bank to function more efficiently.
Given that Gov. Dunleavy had no real explanation for his veto of the $500,000 requested by the Blood Bank, I can only hope he has answers for any families whose loved ones die because our Blood Bank is simply not as efficient as that simple amount would allow it to be. And let’s be real here. That is a simple amount. A very simple amount. It was hardly going to solve any future fiscal problems in our state budget. Vetoing it didn’t solve any current fiscal problems in our state budget. It was simply a mean action from a mean man who can offer no explanation beyond meaness for his actions.
Did the Blood Bank fall on the wrong side of Dunleavy’s political divide? Did someone at the Blood Bank say they weren’t Trumpers? Did they say it out loud? Is that the problem?
Did someone on the Blood Bank’s board accidentally vote for Peltola in the last election? Or did they donate to LaFrance instead of Bronson and word got back to the Republicans and this is Dunleavy’s punishment? Because unless this is political retribution, it makes no sense. And my knowledge of the Blood Bank is that it tends to try and stay away from politics. In fact, I’ve been led to understand that they do not ask a blood donor’s political leanings, nor do they ask a recipient’s. To receive blood, you simply need it to live. The Blood Bank will do everything it can to make sure blood is available to you no matter how you voted. Same for donors – they don’t care if you voted blue, red, pink or yellow. They just care that you are qualified to give blood.
I know that the big story now is Biden’s departure from the presidential race. But, quite honestly, this issue of the Blood Bank should be what is making headlines here in Alaska, much more than presidential politics. Because if you have an accident and need blood, it doesn’t matter who’s president as much as it matters if your hospital has the supplies it needs and can restock when needed in a timely fashion. We live in Alaska. It’s not as though we aren’t aware of how rough and dangerous life here can be. Or how unreliable lifesaving flights can be due to weather.
We should be pounding down Dunleavy’s door over this. Unlike so many other questions about Dunleavy’s vetoes, this one is about life and death in a very immediate way. If the blood isn’t there when you are bleeding out, then you die. It could not be more simple.
Bring cookies and juice with you if you head to Juneau to talk to the Gov about this. Because maybe this is just all about the Governor not getting enough juice and cookies the last time he gave blood.
He has given blood, right?