A bus from St. Mary’s hospital was on campus from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to take blood donation from students, faculty and staff on Oct. 25. The mobile blood donation unit tries to make fairly regular visitsAOS to Colorado Mesa University to keep up with the continuous need for blood.

Blood does not have an indefinite shelf-life, so blood stores need to be regularly resupplied. Chad Herbranson, the phlebotomist in charge of the bus, said blood is only good for six weeks before it can no longer be used.

Because the blood does not last long, the two buses owned by St. Mary’s stay relatively busy in order to fill the constant demand.

“Five days a week we have a bus out,” Herbranson said. “Every day we have one bus somewhere around the western slope.”

The buses do not have to fill only St. Mary’s Hospital’s blood supply needs. The mobile donation centers provide blood for several hospitals in Western Colorado.

“We actually supply, I’ve heard, 18 or 19 hospitals around the western slope, so we’re collecting for all those, including Moab,” Herbranson said.

Though there is a donation center at St. Mary’s Hospital, Herbranson estimated that the majority of donated blood comes from the buses. In that regard, CMU students have been helpful to the cause.

“We come here about every two months, and usually we get about 30 to 40 people on average. Sometimes less, sometimes more than that,” Herbranson said. “We’re only here for three hours, so if we get that in three hours, we’re doing good.”

Traveling to CMU for blood donation is a tradition that has lasted for as long as Herbranson knows, and the response from the students has made it worth their time to keep it going.

“We’ve been doing it as long as I’ve been working here, which is 14 years,” Herbranson said. “It’s one of our normal places. The kids are always willing to do it and always seem to find time between classes.”

Blood donation is important because of the short shelf-life and the impact in can have on medical emergencies. According to Herbranson, emergencies are often the reason some get involved in blood donation.

“People need it every day. And you never know when it could be your own friend or family member, and a lot of times that is how people get started. They see a family member needs it and they see this blood keeps coming,” Herbranson said. “[They are] like ‘wow, didn’t realize how important it is.’ It has to hit home sometimes.”

Herbranson predicted a successful day with at least 30 donors based on the initial flow of donors to the bus. Upcoming stops for the mobile blood donation unit are Steamboat, Aspen, Rangely and Vail.