Base needs coordinators for blood drives

  • Published
  • By Argen Duncan
  • Nucleus editor
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  After an absence of several years, United Blood Services is again seeking donations from military personnel at Kirtland Air Force Base.

Earlier in March, a memorandum of record among the 377th Medical Group, Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center and United Blood Services was approved to allow the nonprofit blood systems organization to work on base, said medical group Blood Programs Coordinator Sue Pearson.

"This is something we're excited to do," she said.

In the past several years, United Blood Services has only worked with Sandia National Laboratories at the installation.

For every five donations at Kirtland, the VA hospital will receive financial credit for one unit of blood under the new memo, said United Blood Services Regional Donor Recruitment Manager Abraham Chacon. United Blood Services charges hospitals per unit to recover service costs in order to keep operating.

No base blood drives are scheduled yet, but Pearson is looking for volunteers in each unit to coordinate and market drives.

The United Blood Services headquarters in Albuquerque serves close to 20 hospitals around New Mexico and in southern Colorado, Chacon said.

Trauma, cancer, burn and surgery patients as well as premature babies need blood. A victim of severe trauma may need dozens of units.

One out of four people will need a blood transfusion at some point, Chacon said.

"It has to come from volunteer blood donors," he said. "That's why it's so important. It can't be manufactured or produced."

Even though shortages are rare, he said, getting enough blood has been hard for three to four years because of the struggling economy, layoffs and schools needing to prioritize classroom time over blood drives. The Zika virus has become a concern, too.

Summer and Christmas are difficult every year, he said. People have matters besides blood donations on their minds and schedules at those times of year, and schools and universities, the sources of many donations, are out of session or offering fewer classes in the summer.

Chacon said three of eight military members can't donate blood because of travel to certain countries, but he still hopes to find help with blood supplies on base.

"That benefits the overall community, the overall state, to be honest with you," he said.

Donating blood is healthy for men because when their bodies replace the donated red blood cells, it decreases chances of a heart attack.

"We like to call it an oil change," Chacon said.

Blood donation is typically painless, he said, and takes 45 minutes to an hour. Donors can use the Fast Track Health History feature at bloodhero.org to complete health interviews ahead of time and save at least 15 minutes at the donation center.

To volunteer as a Kirtland blood drive coordinator, contact Pearson at 846-3705 or susan.pearson@us.af.mil.

To donate outside of a blood drive, contact Chacon at 246-1469 or achacon@bloodsystems.org.