Midwives understand the terrible effects that Zika virus can have on developing babies in utero, but did you know that it is expected to severely impact the nation's blood supply, especially as summer comes? Humid, hot southern US states that harbor Zika's mosquito vector are expected to be the most severely affected. However, no area will be immune because summer travelers to endemic areas may harbor the virus, decreasing the number of potential donors who cannot donate until they have been home for 28 days.
The New Mexico Affiliate encourages you to donate blood in the West Convention Center's Jemez Room (21) Monday - Thursday. New Mexico uses about 300 units/day, some of which is transfused into hemorrhaging pregnant/birthing women, premature infants and trauma victims. Every drop is needed! Please help save a life.
Here's how to do it. Find a free 30 minutes on your Final Program to schedule yourself and a friend. Donations times will be:
Monday, May 23: 10:00AM - 1:30PM
Tuesday, May 24: 4:00PM - 8:00PM
Wednesday, May 25: 4:00PM - 7:00PM
Thursday, May 26: 8:00AM - 12:00PM
Go to www.bloodhero.com. Click on "Locate a Blood Drive." Then "Search by Sponsor." In the box that says "Code" put "ACNM".
What a productive half hour that will be. Catch up on your lives while giving the gift of life. It's a "two-fer." Donors will receive a bag of home made biscochitos, the official New Mexico state cookie.
To save you time, complete your Fast Track Health History questionnaire on your computer or mobile device (smartphone or tablet) before you come to the drive. The health history must be completed the same day you donate; it cannot be completed a day or two ahead of time. To access the questionnaire, go to http://www.bloodsystems.org/health.aspx.
United Blood Services can accept a Fast Track Ticket from most mobile devices as long as their staff can scan the ticket's barcode on your device. Or, print and bring the Fast Track Ticket with you.
Important: Before you start the questionnaire, please enter your first and last name exactly as it appears on your donor ID card (if you don't have a card, use your legal name). Do not use punctuation marks or special characters unless you see it on your ID.
Thank you for finding the hero in you!
Cathy Brown was a happy expectant mother of twins in April, 1997, when she suddenly went into labor 14 weeks early. Complications arose and her twins had to be delivered by caesarean. Haylee and Logan both weighed less than 2 pounds when they entered the world.United Blood Services can accept a Fast Track Ticket from most mobile devices as long as their staff can scan the ticket's barcode on your device. Or, print and bring the Fast Track Ticket with you.
Important: Before you start the questionnaire, please enter your first and last name exactly as it appears on your donor ID card (if you don't have a card, use your legal name). Do not use punctuation marks or special characters unless you see it on your ID.
Thank you for finding the hero in you!
Cathy's Story
Immediately, they were placed in the neonatal unit where the infants began their fight to stay alive. "They were so weak and small that they needed blood for strength," Cathy said.
The babies began to gain strength but when they were 7 days old, Logan developed an intestinal infection. The doctors determined that the best course of action would be to operate. Following the surgery, Logan received more blood while he was in recovery. With time, the twins began to grow stronger as their health stabilized. "The blood products probably saved their lives," Cathy said.
In 2000, Cathy found herself employed at United Blood Services. She now helps the organization that is partly responsible for saving the lives of her twins, Haylee and Logan. The twins are now 8 years old, running about and enjoying a healthy childhood that was brought about with the help of blood donations.
Ellie's Story
Bridget was told in mid-pregnancy that her baby had a 50% chance of living, based on a birth defect seen in an ultrasound. Doctors revised the baby's odds down to only 5% right before she was born. Baby Ellie proved them all wrong and is now a thriving 15-month-old who loves to smile and wave at everyone. Her big brothers say she is the strongest person in the world.
Ellie was born without a diaphragm, which caused her stomach, intestines, and spleen to enter her chest. Immediately after birth she was placed on a type of life support that pumped all her blood out of her body, added oxygen, and pumped it back in, allowing her heart and lungs to rest until she was ready to withstand surgery. During her more than 2-month hospital stay, Ellie needed numerous blood transfusions.
"I love watching people now and wondering which ones saved my little girl's life," says Bridget. "Words can never describe what it means to have others do so much," she adds. Ellie is a fighter, but if there hadn't been blood on the hospital shelves to help her fight, she wouldn't be here today. "Blood donors save lives and Ellie is proof of that," Bridget says. "I don't know which ones saved Ellie, so I thank them all."
Robin's Story
The loud clap of a rifle round slamming into the engine block of her police car was about the best sound Robin Hopkins could have hoped for.
Crack!
Crack!
For a split second, the 15-year veteran of the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department thought her big Crown Vic had saved her from the guy who was aiming a sawed-off Romanian AK-47 out the window of a stolen cop car - aiming right at her.
Then, Crack! Crack! She heard two more.
The balding 35-year-old who had strapped on body armor, pulled on a black face mask and gone on a shooting spree had already shot three police officers and was leading police on a chase that had ricocheted through Albuquerque's North Valley.
Now he was pulling alongside her and taking two more shots.
One of the rounds pierced the driver's side door - making a neat bullseye of the sheriff's department shield painted on the door - and blasted through her thigh.
It's a well-worn cliche that a life can change in an instant. For Hopkins, at 11:46 a.m. on a beautiful October day in 2013, it did.
The bullet passed completely through her thigh and, in the process, shattered her left femur and femoral artery. Because the melee happened right in front of the county fire and rescue substation, a life-saving tourniquet to stop the massive bleeding was immediately placed on her leg by fellow deputies and fire department medics. Within two minutes of the shooting she was careening in an ambulance to the University of New Mexico Hospital trauma center where she underwent multiple surgeries to save her life and leg and ultimately received more than 100 units of blood.
Three years after the shooting, Robin is back at work for the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department.
Robin Hopkins-blood recipient, marathon runner, yoga practitioner, ex-Marine, Air National Guard staff sergeant, Deputy Sheriff, wife, mother of an 18 year old and an 11 month old toddler at the time of the accident who, incidentally, was welcomed into the world via the capable hands of Michelle Pino, CNM.
