Giving Blood, Along With Thanks, Is Urged

Buy turkey. Invite guests. And, community health officials ask, add one more item to your Thanksgiving to-do list: Donate blood.

United Blood Services, which collects and distributes 30,000 pints to Ventura County’s hospitals each year, will shut down operations for four days starting Thanksgiving Day to install a new Y2K-compliant computer system.

That means the nonprofit group needs to stockpile an extra 440 pints during the next nine days to head off a shortage, said spokeswoman Patty Hunt.

“We are going for four full days with no donations coming in. That’s a long time for us,” Hunt said. “We need all the help we can get prior to that shutdown.”

Twenty-two collection centers operated by United Blood Services across the nation will shut down simultaneously during the transition, Hunt said. United Blood Services chose the holiday period because there typically are fewer scheduled surgeries and demand for blood supplies is lower.

But the flu season is right around the corner, and centers can’t afford to deplete stocks, Hunt said.

“It’s a hard time to get people to donate because they are so busy with the holidays,” she said. “With this being the turn of the millennium and people going out of town, we are starting to hustle for donors now.”

United Blood’s computer system is 15 years old. The group will spend $10 million nationwide to install MAK Systems, a French program that is being implemented by blood-collection centers in the United States and Europe.

An update was needed to avoid problems connected with the difficulties older computers may have reading dates after Dec. 31, 1999. The installation will ensure that United Blood’s collection and distribution process will operate smoothly after Jan. 1, Hunt said.

MAK uses bar codes and scanners to quickly process information, similar to the scanning devices used in grocery stores. Each pint will be tracked by computer, from point of collection to distribution, for expiration date, blood type and testing status.

Regular donors will receive a new collection card in the mail, Hunt said. New donors will also receive a card after answering a questionnaire and giving blood.

Information on thousands of donors will be shifted from the old system to the new. The public will notice little difference because most of the changes involve administrative functions, she said.

People who are 17 or older, in good health and weigh at least 110 pounds can donate blood at 18 collection points across the county. United Blood’s main office is at 1756 Eastman Ave. in Ventura. For more information on drawing locations, call (800) 715-3699.