So far 166 people have donated during this year’s blood drive. United Blood Services officials said this number is much lower compared to last year, when a large number of Lobos donated blood.
“We hope that blood donations increase in the coming days,” said Abraham Chacon, a regional donor recruitment manager for the United Blood Services, a non-profit community blood center.
He said it will be difficult for Lobos to retain their title if donations do not increase.
“NMSU is ahead of us by a large margin and we are expecting that if the blood drive does not do well, NMSU will take the title away from UNM,” said Mike Taylor, donor recruitment specialist with United Blood Services. “But at the same time, with all of our resources pooled here in the Metro area into this blood drive, it is going to be dramatically affecting the blood intake that the hospitals need as well.”
Chacon said that because United Blood Services keeps large reserves of blood stored, a drop in new blood donations would not cause a serious shortage for hospitals in the short term.
United Blood Services is the only organization in the state that provides blood to all the 42 hospitals in New Mexico, he said.
UNM Hospital uses about 17,000 blood components each year, much of it provided by United Blood Services, said John Arnold, a communications director for UNM Health Sciences Center. Arnold said UNMH would be significantly impacted without these supplies.
“We count on them for not only trauma victims, but for all kinds of surgeries, organ and marrow transplants and blood disorders,” Arnold said. “That’s why we encourage all those who are able to donate.”
Abdul Raheem, project assistant at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, said he donated his blood at the donation camp not only to help UNM maintain its pride but also to serve humanity.
“I am also trying to convince other friends to come and donate blood. It’s not just a competition. It’s about thousands of patients in the New Mexico hospitals,” he said.
Raheem hopes he will be able to convince at least two more friends to donate blood, he said.
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