In Need of Blood

UCLA and the surrounding community need more blood and platelet
donations than anywhere else in the nation, but the UCLA Blood and
Platelet Center cannot nearly supply the hospital’s
demand.

Additionally, this is an exceptionally low point in the year for
blood and platelet donations, said Jaime Rivas, platelet
coordinator for the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center, which makes the
situation even more dire.

Due to the high demand for transfusions, the UCLA Med Center
uses a significant amount of blood and platelets compared to other
medical centers.

The Med Center, which is classified as a number one trauma
center, admits many of Los Angeles’s traffic accident
victims, wounded law enforcement officers and crime victims. The
center also has a high inpatient population, which includes those
with leukemia and cancer.

Three percent of the Los Angeles population donates blood or
platelets, compared with the nation’s average of five
percent, said Priscilla Figueroa, associate director of the UCLA
Blood and Platelet Center.

“The summer is the worst time because … students are
gone,” he continued. “It takes at least a month to
rebound from that.”

Christmas and New Years are also extremely bad, said Rivas.
People are off of work and school, and many of them also have the
flu, which prevents them from donating.

When there is a shortage of blood, the Med Center postpones some
elective ““ or, non-emergency ““ surgeries. For emergency
surgeries, it imports blood from other blood banks, bringing it in
from as far as the Midwest.

Because blood is so expensive, purchasing more would
significantly impact the budget, Figueroa said.

“We would have to look at other services to be cut,”
she said.

Currently, the Med Center only receives 50 percent of the blood
and platelets that it needs, Figueroa said. The rest is bought from
somewhere else. In five years, UCLA hopes to be at 90 percent or
better, she said.

Students who donate blood and platelets will find many benefits
in doing so.

“Donating performs an important community service,”
Figueroa said. “It really is a life-saving thing to
do.”

ASUCLA student employees who donate platelets can receive four
hours of comp time, which is allowed every two months.

The Blood and Platelet Center likes to build relationships with
its donors, Figueroa said.

They design personalized donation programs, adjusted to the
donor’s blood cell count, height and weight, and method of
donation.

Although most students are only here for four years, the
“Bruins for Life” program encourages students to become
life-time donors, Rivas said.

As an incentive for donating blood, the Bruins for Life program
provides students with movie tickets and meal tickets. They also
have raffles for trips in the United States, tickets to Bruin
athletic games and jackets and t-shirts.

There is a special recognition day just for donors in the
platelet-donating Star program, Rivas said.

Throughout the year there are many opportunities for students to
donate blood.

Students can donate blood through groups such as the Student
Welfare Commission and the Office of Residential Life, said Linda
Goss, administrative analyst for the Blood and Platelet Center.

The UCLA Blood and Platelet Center conducts donations throughout
the year. Because platelet donations require Apheresis Machines,
the center is the only place on campus where students can donate
platelets. The center accepts both walk-in visits and
appointments.

Throughout the next few weeks, the center will be holding a
blood drive at on-campus housing locations and Ackerman Union.

The processes of donating blood and platelets are slightly
different.

Blood donations take about 10-15 minutes and platelet donations
take about 70-100 minutes. There are certain health requirements
that donors have to meet in order to give blood.

The UCLA Blood and Platelet Center encourages students to donate
through its organization to ensure that the blood and platelets go
directly to the UCLA Med Center and the Santa Monica Medical
Center, Figueroa said.

For more information on blood and platelet donations, students
can call (310) 825-0888.