'Critical need' for blood donors in New Mexico
Jun. 22—A week after World Blood Donor Day failed to draw enough participants to meet a critical need in supplies across New Mexico and nationwide, nonprofit Vitalant put out another call Tuesday urging "donors of all blood types" to make appointments.
Vitalant, formerly United Blood Services, said in a news release it had thousands of open appointments over the next few weeks in each of the 28 states it serves, including New Mexico.
"There is a critical need for donors with the most transfused blood type O, which has recently dipped to about half of the desired four-day supply," the news release said, "and platelet donors, whose donations must be used within a week of donation."
World Blood Donor Day, held on June 14 since 2005, is a global campaign organized by the World Health Organization, the Red Cross and other groups with a goal of boosting blood supplies.
Donations have dwindled this year.
Evelyn Rosado, a spokeswoman for Vitalant in Albuquerque, said the number of donations collected last week were "not like what we're used to in the past."
The Arizona-based nonprofit, with a location on Rodeo Road in Santa Fe, also announced a critical shortage in January, largely due to the rapidly spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Even as the pandemic has subsided, Vitalant said it collected 13,000 fewer donations in April and May than during the same months last year.
The lower rate of donations is due in part to schools shutting down for the summer. Rosado said 30 percent of the pints of blood collected by the organization come from school-based donation events.
The coronavirus continues to play a role as well, she added.
"The increase of people testing positive for COVID and people not wanting to come out and donate blood, just things of that nature also added to it," Rosado said.
Arturo Delgado, a spokesman for Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, wrote in an email the Santa Fe hospital is aware of the blood shortage but noted it is not affecting patient care.
The hospital " works closely with Vitalant to ensure our supply needs are appropriately met. In addition, we assist Vitalant with coordinating blood donation events at the hospital," Delgado wrote. "We will continue to monitor the situation."
Jodi McGinnis Porter, a spokeswoman for the New Mexico Department of Health, acknowledged there is a blood shortage nationwide and safe blood and blood products are "essential."
"Since the pandemic, blood donations have drastically decreased and they are still nowhere near back at the level needed," McGinnis Porter wrote in an email. "The New Mexico Department of Health encourages the public to donate blood and would like to thank those who have saved countless lives by donating."
To help bolster donations, Vitalant is sponsoring a nationwide giveaway of three prepaid gift cards worth $3,000 each through July 20 — enough to help fill "your gas tank for a year, keep your pantry shelves full or more," the organization said.
Other efforts, Rosado said, include radio and social media campaigns and going directly into communities to raise awareness about the importance of donating blood.
"We are in a critical need right now," she said, "but we are in a constant, urgent need for blood."
Vitalant typically sees a spike in donations after an appeal to help fill a shortage, Rosado said. But after an initial gap is filled, the need for a steady supply does not end.
"We are hoping that one day ... there will be enough blood on the shelves to be able to support not only emergencies, but all of those scheduled surgeries," she said. "It's the blood on the shelves that saves lives."
