Area blood drives set at various locations next week

Several blood drives will be held in Yuma next week as part of a campaign by Vitalant (formerly United Blood Services) to mark National Blood Donor Month and raise awareness during what is generally a high-usage period of the year.

Sue Thew, a spokesperson for Vitalant, said this month’s circumstances are particularly daunting from a statewide level, since blood donations from Dec. 24 through Jan. 1 fell 23 percent short of projections.

Those days are typically the slowest time of the year for blood donations, Thew said. Vitalant provides blood to 62 hospitals in Arizona, including Yuma Regional Medical Center.

December’s blood usage was up 8 percent, she said, and now January has the highest need, tied to a high number of non-emergency surgeries scheduled just after the holiday season.

“Of course we are doing everything it takes to make sure patients are able to get the blood transfusions they need, but it is very important that people make donating blood a priority right now,” she said.

O-negative and O-positive donations, which can be substituted for other blood types, are down to a single day’s supply, down from the three days’ that Vitalant tries to have on hand.

Donors must meet eligibility requirements, which can be found through vitalant.org, but see multiple benefits when they are able to give, Thew said, including medical information about themselves, Thew said.

“You get a free miniphysical, including your total cholesterol and your blood type, and you get the satisfaction of saving two to three lives, and you get refreshments,” she said.