By
Jeremy Duda
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Red Cross makes appeal for O-positive donors, UA
Tucson is in the midst of a severe shortage of O-positive blood, the most common type given to trauma patients, and UA students can help ease the crunch.
Type O blood can be used in place of other blood types, and is generally given to trauma victims whose blood types are unknown.
"We've had on and off shortages for the past year," said Dr. Diane Eklund, medical director of transfusion medicine at University Medical Center, and medical director for the Arizona region of the Red Cross. "Particularly over the past few weeks, it's gotten really bad."
Several steps have been take to alleviate the crisis, though. Kay Donahoe, Red Cross director of donor services, said many donations in the past week have been from University of Arizona students.
Donahoe added that the UA students contribute about 5 percent of southern Arizona's blood on average. In 2000, nearly 6.3 million units of blood were collected nationally.
"The students have long been great blood donors," she said.
On Tuesday, 24 pints of O-positive blood were shipped to Tucson from Nashville, Tenn., and on Wednesday a media appeal brought in about 600 donors, Donahoe said.
For that day, the Red Cross kept its collection center at 4601 E. Broadway Blvd. open until 7 p.m., five hours later than its usual closing time.
This was much needed, since the Red Cross had only two pints left as of Wednesday morning. It ended the shortage for a couple of days, but more will be needed to stave it off for any longer, Eklund said.
"If that doesn't continue we'll be back where we started in a few days," she said.
To maintain a suitable supply of blood, the Red Cross requires about 300 blood donations a day. Over the last two weeks, fewer than 150 donations have been collected daily.
The severe shortage of late has been caused by a decreased amount of donors combined with an increase in complicated surgeries and medical procedures that require large amounts of blood, such as bone marrow transplants.
While the media appeal for donors brought in a substantial amount of O-positive blood - which about 39 percent of the American population has - the Red Cross needs people to make "commitments to donate more often," said Eklund, not just when stories appear in the news.
The Red Cross has made an appeal for all healthy individuals who are at least 17 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds, are not at risk for HIV or AIDS and have not had hepatitis since at least age 11 to donate blood. Appointments to donate can be made by calling 1-800-GIVE-LIFE.
The collection center on East Broadway Boulevard will open today at 7 a.m. and close at 6 p.m.
