NASA Ames blood drive for Stanford Blood Center cancelled because of government shutdown; urgent need for O-negative blood

October 2, 2013
Attention News Desk: Press Release (for immediate release)
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Dayna Kerecman Myers (202) 669-2921
daynam@stanford.edu,
Deanna Bolio (650) 725-3804
dbolio@stanford.edu

STANFORD, Calif. — The Stanford Blood Center currently has an urgent need for O-negative blood, and the shutdown of the federal government is affecting the center’s ability to meet that demand.

A blood drive scheduled for Oct. 2 at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., was canceled because more than 1,000 Ames employees were furloughed Oct. 1 after Congress failed to agree on a spending bill. The drive was expected to collect 75 units of whole blood.

“It’s unfortunate that the government shutdown is impacting the local blood supply,” said blood center spokesperson Deanna Bolio. “NASA Ames employees have been tremendously supportive of the blood center over the last 27 years, having donated thousands of units to help patients in the community.”

The Ames Research Center hosts five blood drives each year with Stanford Blood Center. There were 379 units collected in 2012.

O-negative blood is the universal blood type and can be transfused safely to anyone. Donors of all types are encouraged to make an appointment at any of Stanford Blood Center’s three centers, located in Menlo Park, Mountain View and Palo Alto.

Donors should be in good health with no cold or flu symptoms. They must eat well prior to donation, drink fluids and present photo identification at the time of donation. The processtakes about an hour. For more information or to schedule an appointment online, please call (888) 723-7831 or visit https://bloodcenter-stg.stanford.edu.

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The Stanford University School of Medicine consistently ranks among the nation’s top medical schools, integrating research, medical education, patient care and community service. For more news about the school, please visit http://mednews.stanford.edu. The medical school is part of Stanford Medicine, which includes Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. For information about all three, please visit http://stanfordmedicine.org/about/news.html.

Stanford Blood Center was created at the Stanford University School of Medicine in 1978 to meet the complex transfusion needs of Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, as well as provide tailored blood products and clinical trial services for school researchers. Today the center provides blood products to seven local hospitals and is a recognized leader in the field of transfusion medicine. More information is available at https://bloodcenter-stg.stanford.edu.