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Bonfils bloodmobile visits Littleton

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Contributed by: Karen Groves/YourHub.com on 7/22/2008

There wasn't a long line outside the air-conditioned Bonfils Bloodmobile parked at Columbine Library on July 22, but the donors arrived at a steady pace throughout the day.

"This is a four-bed unit and we have six donor-techs working," said phlebotomist Tracye Cutts, of Aurora.

As people climbed the metal steps to enter the van, Bonfils phlebotomists were busy interviewing donors or preparing them for a pin prick on their fingers or needle in the arm.

There are two tiny interview rooms at the back end of the 40-foot van, with just enough room for two people. If a person has had a tattoo or traveled to Africa, they may have to wait a year to donate blood.

Lead technician Liz Hogan, of Denver, said, "We gather information about each person on a form, then ask confidential questions in the interview room."

"If a person has been to Africa or Latin America, they would be deferred for 12 months," said Julie Scott, Bonfils public relations specialist.

"The interviews are our first stop-gap to protect the safety of the blood supply and eliminate donors who are ineligible," she said.

According to Scott, in 2007 the Columbine Library site hosted six or more blood drives.

"That matches the number of times a year a person can donate blood and indicates these are regular donors," she said. Scott said 65 percent of the blood collected comes from the mobile program that operates all over the state.

"However 60 percent of donors only give once a year. If we were able to get people to give at least once more in a year, it would alleviate any kind of blood shortage," she said.

Morrison resident Kate Taylor said she usually gave blood once a year. "I came here today because it's convenient for me."

Cutts said, "We always prefer that people make an appointment to keep from waiting. But even if there's an overflow, we try to accommodate every one. Even if they have to wait, it wouldn't be more than five or 10 minutes."

Cliff Harknessn, of Littleton, said "It's a lot better to make an appointment. I learned that after I was turned away once because they had so many people."

Harknessn said he gives blood four to five times a year.

"I'm donating for a friend who had surgery. He's OK now, but he had four transfusions."

While Harknessn squeezed a plum-sized ball to help with the flow of red blood cells, Logan nimbly moved from one end of the van to the other to show him a box of lapel pins.

"You've reached the two-gallon mark. Which one would you like?"

Although Harknessn declined the pin, he said, "I give because it makes me feel good mentally."

According to Scott, although Bonfils is not facing a shortage of blood, but, with the arrival of 50,000 people for the Democratic National Convention, the need for blood will increase. She said typically there is a 20 percent decline in donors during the summer, but the need increases.

"We are going to gear up our blood collections in the weeks leading up to the convention. With that added population, the potential for accidents may increase."

She added that bloodmobile drives during the convention would not be held downtown.

"There will be as many opportunities for people to give, but not downtown."

After the last donor leaves, the crew packs up the pretzels, low-cal cookies and juice bottle snacks that occupied the driver's seat. Hogan, who has a commercial driver's license, slides into the seat and drives off to return the van to its home at Bonfils's headquarters in Denver.

Up next
Aug. 2
Littleton Elks Lodge
5749 S. Curtice St.
10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Aug. 3
B'Nai Chaim Temple, Morrison
4716 S. Coors Lane
8:30 a.m.- 12:30 p.m.

Aug. 5
King Soopers, Littleton
6760 S. Pierce St.
10-11:40 a.m. and 1-3:30 p.m.

Aug. 10
Evergreen Lutheran Church
5980 County Road 73
8 a.m. - 10 30 a.m.

Aug. 25
Evergreen Library
5000 County Road 73
Evergreen
1:30-6:30 p.m.

Aug. 26
Columbine Library
from 1-6:30 p.m.

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