LV officials concerned over blood shortage

Friday, Jan. 10, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

No wild and crazy Las Vegas weekend would be complete without the usual high amount of trauma.

"You talk to any emergency room doctor and he'll tell you it's a zoo on Fridays and Saturdays," said Dave Denney, executive director of United Blood Services, which supplies blood to 18 area medical facilities.

"There always seems to be an increase in auto accidents, auto-pedestrian accidents and knife and gunshot wounds on weekends."

Denney is concerned that Las Vegas hospitals this weekend will not have the supply of blood necessary to meet the demand, especially the critical need for O positive and O negative blood.

"Our O negative donors are a loyal bunch, but they represent just 6 percent of the population, and 12-13 percent of that type of blood is used," Denney said. "It's difficult to keep up with supplies when you are bumping against those type of numbers."

Difficult, indeed. So much so, the regular 10 to 14 days of reserves (1,000-1,400 pints of all types of blood and blood components) have dwindled to just a few hundred precious pints.

In response to a critical need for blood, Las Vegans gave 150 pints more than usual Wednesday and 171 pints above the regular 200 units per day Thursday.

Nevertheless, the blood did not pour in on time for two Las Vegans who had to postpone elective open heart surgeries scheduled for today at University Medical Center, said UBS Associate Director Judy Sligar.

Also, unlike plasma, which can be given every few days, blood can be donated only once every eight weeks.

The blood donor locations at 3935 E. Charleston Blvd., 6930 W. Charleston and 600 Whitney Ranch Road in Henderson are not to be confused with the plasma centers around town, which pay about $15 a donation. Blood donors receive no financial remuneration -- only the satisfaction of potentially saving lives.

And to get people to part with their blood is not always easy.

"We cannot hold a gun to people's heads and make them donate, although sometimes we wish we could," Denney said, injecting humor to bring home the seriousness of the situation.

"The blood drives have not been as strong as we would have liked, and we've had a number of them get canceled. We are contacting people who have not donated in a while and going through the news media to get our message out."

Denney noted that while the 150,000 to 250,000 tourists in town on any given day benefit from the area's blood supplies when necessary, United Blood Services rarely, if ever, gets donations from out-of-towners.

"That is typical for any resort area," Denney said. "They are here to enjoy a vacation, not give blood. So, in addition to the 1.1 million area residents, we accept the fact that we must deal with the extra burden of having enough blood for our visitors."

Still, Denney would not turn away an out-of-towner who walked through the door and rolled up his sleeve. However, not everyone who wants to give blood can.

"For every 100 people who want to donate, about 20 have to be turned away for various reasons, like if they are on antibiotics, or are otherwise ill at the time," Denney said.

"Of the remaining 80, 12 percent of that blood, for various reasons, is not usable."

Sligar noted that while 371 people donated blood Thursday, another 89 had to be turned away for various health reasons.

To give blood, call 228-4483 or 438-7563 to set up an appointment. United Blood Service sites will be open Saturday, Sligar said.