UCLA Blood and Platelet Center & the Critical Blood Shortage

By Taber Ball

July 9, 2021 at 1:05 p.m.

As the country recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans are faced with a new challenge — a critical blood shortage.

A rise in the number of trauma cases, organ transplants, and elective surgeries requiring blood products over recent months has depleted the nation’s supply of blood. Blood donation centers have seen red cell demand from hospitals with trauma centers climb significantly in 2021. Furthermore, patients who previously deferred care during the pandemic are now presenting with more advanced disease progression and therefore require increased blood transfusions.

As a result of this critical blood shortage, some hospitals are being forced to slow the pace of elective surgeries until the blood supply stabilizes. This delays crucial patient care and is detrimental to the American healthcare system.

“I work as an EMT and we have been getting more 911 calls, so more people are needing
blood,” said Christian Eidson, a fourth-year biochemistry major and vice-president of the
University Blood Initiative. “As things start to open up, we’re going to need more blood, but
people have less time to donate.”

Blood donors are now more important than ever, and members of the Bruin community can do their part by donating blood or platelets through the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center. The UCLA Blood and Platelet Center is committed to providing quality blood components for patients at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, the UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital, and the Santa Monica UCLA Hospital. Donors are essential to making UCLA’s healthcare system one of the best in the country.

UCLA Blood Shortage Blood and Platelet Center
The Blood and Platelet Center also works directly with several student organizations including the University Blood Initiative (UBI) and the Bruin Blood Initiative (BBI). These organizations are dedicated to raising awareness and encouraging blood donation on campus.

Wesley Wu, third-year biochemistry major and co-president of BBI, said, “It is important to donate when you can. Obviously everyone is very busy, especially during the pandemic, so if you can or if you’re new to UCLA, just come by and donate.”

The Blood and Platelet Center has two Westwood locations, one in Westwood Village and the other in Ackerman Student Center. To find directions and hours of operation for these locations, follow this link.

“It is important once you are a donor to encourage friends to donate, because, as with anything, the first time is often the scariest. Once I donated the first time, I realized how easy it was to donate,” said Becca Nelson, a second year molecular, cell and developmental biology major and member of both UBI and BBI. “Sharing on social media and encouraging friends or offering to go with them can really encourage a lot of donors to come in.”

“It is also important to note that platelets only have a shelf-life of five days, so platelet donations are super important,” said Nelson.

“Donating platelets is very similar to donating blood. They first have to determine if you have the amount of platelets needed to be able to donate. After that, it is just a longer process,” said Wu, who has donated platelets in the past. “The center does a really great job of comforting you by bringing snacks or food and supplying movies or entertainment so that you aren’t bored during those two hours.”

Schedule your appointment to donate blood or platelets at this link. Keep in mind that in order to keep their donors safe and to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Blood and Platelet Center is following a donation-by-appointment policy. Use this link to see details about donor eligibility. The UCLA Blood and Platelet Center thanks you for doing your part to contribute to the effort to resolve this critical blood shortage.

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