The American Red Cross has made national headlines lately because of the organization’s problems with federal blood safety rules.

But the only problem at Lawrence blood banks, officials say, is the usual one: People aren’t giving enough.

Two weeks ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported more than 200 federal blood safety rules violations by the American Red Cross at its Washington, D.C., biomedical headquarters.

Of the violations reported, the most serious included a lack of documentation about management control and quality assurance, failure to correct previous violations and the release of unsuitable products to the public.

But the national Red Cross problems mean little in Lawrence, where most blood is drawn at Community Blood Center, an organization independent of the Red Cross.

The local provider of blood to Lawrence Memorial Hospital and more than 70 other hospitals in 70 counties throughout Kansas and Missouri reports that its blood collection procedures are in compliance with federal regulations.

“We’re confident we’re doing a good job, and we have a superb quality-assurance department,” said Jay Menitove, executive medical director for Community Blood Center.

Like the Red Cross, Community Blood Center, a not-for-profit member of America’s Blood Centers, is licensed and regulated by the FDA. The two organizations combine to provide nearly 90 percent of the nation’s blood needs.

Besides regular FDA inspections, Community Blood Center subscribes to two other inspection services, said Jill Hardman, director of quality assurance for the center.

“The American Association of Blood Banks checks our blood center for compliance with their standards, which are consistent with the FDA requirements,” Hardman said.

Community Blood Center facilities also are inspected for compliance by the British Standards Institute, which ensures quality among paying members.

Thomas Howe, Lawrence left, rests in a donor chair at the Community Blood Center, 1410 Kasold Drive, as Sarah Mozykowski, a phlebotomist, marks donor information down. The center was also busy Monday working on a telemarketing campaign to draw more donors.

The main problem for the blood center is a lack of donated blood to meet demand, said Michelle Wilson, the center’s manager of donor recruitment.

“We’re still critical in O positive, O negative and B positive, and we’re low on just about everything else,” she said.

Wilson said a number of factors contributed to blood shortage.

“Due to cold and flu season, a lot of people may have those symptoms where they aren’t able to donate until those are all cleared up,” Wilson said. “Also, with the holidays, people are so busy with all their outside activities. We always see a decrease in the number of donations at that time.”

One factor the center didn’t anticipate was an increase in the number of blood transfusions in 2002.

“We’ve had more donors come in,” Wilson said. “But we haven’t been able to keep up with the demand.”

¢ Community Blood Center

The bank’s daily goal — set by the organization’s recruitment team in Topeka — is 10 donors, or units, per day.

The center aims to make up for some of that shortage today during its New Year’s resolution blood drive from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Lawrence location, 1410 Kasold Drive.

“Our goal for that event is 10 units,” Wilson said, “but the Lawrence center always has to collect 10 a day, so hopefully we’re looking at collecting over 20.”