Three years after a new Illinois law went into effect requiring registration and
yearly inspections for tattoo and body-piercing establishments, the state is
finally prepared to begin inspections. And while implementation of the law will
improve public safety by eliminating the chances of passing infectious
diseases, such as HIV and hepatitis, through infected needles, the greatest
benefit will be to local blood banks and those in desperate need of blood
transfusions.
Prior to the law, Illinois tattoo and body piercing shops were not required to
register with the state, nor did the establishments face any sort of sanitary
inspections. As a result, Illinois blood centers, accredited by the Association
of Blood Banks (AABB), were forced to turn away possible donors who received
tattoos within the past year, despite the fact that an overwhelming majority of
the establishments use disposable needles.
“This [inspections] is big for us,” states David Parsons, CEO for the Springfield-based Central Illinois Community
Blood Center, which serves central and southwestern Illinois. “We are on the cusp of big change,” he added. Parsons reports that Illinois blood banks turn away approximately 100
potential donors each day because they have recently been tattooed. An average
of three to five a day attempt to donate at the Central Illinois Community
Blood Center, which provides blood for 19 hospitals.
According to the National Geographic News, about 15 percent of Americans have
tattoos. With tattoos and body piercings extremely popular among people under
the age of 30, Parsons expects the new law to have the greatest impact on that
particular age group. Currently, about 15 percent of the area’s blood donations come from donors between the ages of 16 and 19 via school
blood drives.
While Parsons and officials from other community blood banks are happy about the
inspections, those who have received tattoos within the past year should not
flock to blood centers expecting to donate. Even though the inspections are
scheduled to officially begin in August, Parsons says that donations will
continue to be “deferred” for another four to six months to give the state a chance to initially inspect
all of its establishments. The delay, reports Parsons, is to give those
departments that have just begun inspections an opportunity to iron out any
problems they may encounter. “It will then be up to a consensus of blood centers to decided when newly
tattooed individuals will be able to donate.”
Although it has taken a number of years to draw up procedures for inspections
and to train the inspectors, many counties, including Sangamon, have actually
already begun the process. Inspections will be conducted by local health
departments acting as agents of the Illinois Department of Public Health.
As summer heats up, Illinois blood banks generally face a shortage of blood
donations.
And this summer is no different, with the Central Illinois Community Blood Bank
Center’s donations down about 10 percent. Summer, says Parsons, is a time the need for
blood increases due to accidents during summer vacations, and low blood
donations during the school break. “Throughout the school year there are at least 60 school-sponsored bloodmobiles
resulting in 6,000 units of blood,” said Parsons. He added: “Nationally, young people believe that it is cool to volunteer and perform
service, regardless of whether the school requires it or not. They have a great
time doing it, and they know that they can save a life.”
Contact Jolonda Young at ladyj2066@aol.com.
This article appears in Jul 30 – Aug 5, 2009.
