By Edgar Gonzalez, Staff Reporter
There is a blood drive scheduled to take place on CNM Main Campus March 31 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in order to help people that have been affected by the Zika virus in the southern states of the U.S. as well as those who suffer from other ailments, said Patricio Jimenez Biology Major
The blood is sent to forty-two different hospitals all around New Mexico, although recently there has been a problem in the southern states along the Rio Grande with the Zika virus so there is a high demand for blood, he said.
The blood might get transported to these different states in order to help with the Zika virus, he said.
If someone is unable to attend the scheduled blood drive on CNM main campus, there are different places where blood is always happily accepted all over the state that are part of the United Blood Services, he said.
There is no profit being made, only donations are acceptable and the buying of plasma will not be taking place during this event, he said.
“It is always good to help in the community and give something back to your fellow human beings,” he said.
A lot of people are just not informed about what a necessity blood is at any time so getting the word out is extremely important, he said.
The necessity today for blood is enormous and United Blood Services needs as many people as possible in order to save lives, he said.
There is a shocking statistic that says that out of the thirty percent of Americans that can donate blood only ten percent ever do, in fact there is a need for blood every two seconds in America alone, he said.
“There is nothing that a person is required to bring to the event, but medical history would definitely be a plus if someone decides to bring it,” he said.
There are some restrictions with people that can donate blood, these include people with diseases, people that are taking several prescription drugs, people with cancer, or people with infections, he said.
People who are underweight will also be unable to donate blood, as well as pregnant women, he said.
There will be certified individuals that will be taking blood from people who decide to donate, he said.
When a person first arrives there will be some people there that will ask them some questions like what type of blood they have, if they have been out of the country during the past few months, etc, the process normally takes up to forty five minutes, he said.
The process of taking blood will take about fifteen minutes, he said.
There are certain kinds of blood that are preferred like blood type O.
They will ask if that person is interested in giving a second dose of blood after there has been some time for recovery from the first extraction, he said.
In order to recover from the extraction the people at the event will be offering snacks and water which will be given to everyone after the blood is taken out, he said.
Volunteers and the people doing the extractions will always make sure that the person donating blood is always in a condition of health after the process is complete especially if people are giving double doses, he said.
The way this works is volunteers will go all around the place where the event is happening and ask people if they would be interested in donating blood, he said.
The people who come will be shown the way by volunteers, he said.
“There in never really a line to donate blood, so there is not really a wait that people have to go through,” he said.
After the blood is taken the individual performing the extractions will take the blood and test it in a lab in order to make sure that they are able to use it, he said.
If there is a situation where people have some sort of problem with their blood, they will be advised immediately and told that it would be a good idea to go for a checkup, he said.
Photo and art by Patricio Jimenes and Brianna
