United Blood Services Appeals For O-Negative Blood Type Donors

EL PASO, TX – United Blood Services, the area’s non-profit blood center, is in critical need of O-negative blood.

At all times, the blood center should normally have a regular supply of at least 49 pints of this blood type on the shelf, however, as of late this afternoon, there were no pints available.

“The situation is very serious,” says David Veloz, Interim Executive Director. “We need O Negative Blood donors to come into our center and donate immediately.” While only 6 percent of donors in the El Paso/Las Cruces area are of this blood type, about 10 percent of blood recipients use O negative blood.

“We are in close contact with our hospitals to assure that we are at least meeting emergency needs,” said Mary Ann Pavia, Hospital Services Director. “We are shifting blood from one hospital to another, depending on the need. This is a temporary stop-gap. It can’t continue for too long.”

There is such a big demand for Group O-negative red blood cells because they can be transfused to any patient, regardless of the patient’s blood type. Persons with O-negative blood are considered “Universal Donors.” The need for O-negative blood is far greater than might be expected.

“It is especially important for people who have never donated before to donate today,” said Veloz. “There are currently only 351 O-negative donors on our call list. We need to increase that number, and we can only do it if we find new O-negative donors.”

United Blood Services provides service to 18 area hospitals in El Paso and Southern New Mexico. The non-profit community blood center must collect at least 150 blood donations of all types on a daily basis to meet the needs of our community.

Hours of operation for United Blood Services tomorrow are 12 noon to 7 pm. Appointments are accepted by calling 544-5422.