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1st appeared
20 December
1999 Blood Banks Issue Urgent Plea
Indeed, the situation is so critical that local blood banks are stepping up efforts to raise awareness of the low supply. With announcements repeated every half-hour over the UCSF Medical Center public address system and signs placed around the Parnassus campus, Jean Katz, nursing supervisor of the blood center at UCSF, is glad to see some people are taking time out from their hectic schedules to donate blood. "We just really want to thank everyone who’s coming out and rolling up their sleeve and giving the gift of life," Katz says. "During the holidays, this is the most precious gift you can give." But while demand for blood usually increases around the holidays, donations dwindle as people become busy shopping, cooking and wrapping gifts. "People get stressed out preparing for the holidays and this year I think a lot of people have taken the time off earlier because of Y2K," Katz says. At its last blood drive for 1999, Katz says she was pleased to get 20 pints from employees at Laurel Heights. She hopes that future blood drives in that facility will draw more donations as the building is now almost fully occupied. Donors don’t have to wait for a blood drive, though, they may give blood at any time during the UCSF blood bank hours, which are 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturdays. The UCSF blood center is located in Long Hospital, Room 131. In the Bay area, 25 percent of the blood must be imported from other regions due to low donation rates, according to Lisa Bloch, communications director for the Blood Centers of the Pacific, formerly Irwin Memorial Blood Bank. A community-based, nonprofit organization that provides blood and blood components for fees to 35 hospitals throughout Northern California – including UCSF, the Blood Centers of the Pacific is urging Bay area residents to donate blood as soon as they can. "Blood donations are critically low during the holiday season and blood supplies need to be replenished," says Bloch. "We especially need Type O blood, as it is the type most often given in emergency situations." Although about 60 percent of the population is eligible to donate blood, less than five percent do, Bloch notes. Anyone who is in good health, aged 17 years or older and weighs at least 110 pounds may donate blood every 56 days. Those aged 16 may donate with a blood program consent form signed by a legal guardian.
And the donation time is short. "The actual donation takes five minutes," Katz says. "With filling out the forms and having a snack, I tell people to plan on being here a half hour." For more information about the UCSF Blood Bank, call 476-6989. For more information or to schedule an appointment to donate blood at the Blood Centers of the Pacific, please call 1-888-393-GIVE. The next UCSF blood drives are as follows: Jan. 12: 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Mission Center Building Jan. 21: 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Millberry Union. Feb. 9: 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Mount Zion. Source: Lisa Cisneros |
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DAYBREAK | ARCHIVES | CALENDAR
| CAMPUS NOTES Copyright ©1999 Regents
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"Blood
banks desperate" reads a front-page headline in the San Jose
Mercury News. "Dire blood shortage," reads another on
the San Francisco Chronicle editorial pages.