Fourth time’s the charm: USU hoping to win again in annual blood battle
The annual blood drive battle between Utah State University and Weber State University is back again.
The blood drive will be in the Taggart Student Center International Lounge from Sept. 6-9 from 9a.m.-8p.m. and will be hosted by the American Red Cross and Val R. Christensen Service Center.
This competition has taken place for 19 years now after starting in 2004, as a way to encourage students to donate blood—beating a rival school is just an added bonus.
Last year both USU and WSU had goals of collecting 1,000 units of blood in five days to be distributed to one of the 2,500 hospitals supplied daily nationwide, but mainly to treatments in Cache Valley that the Red Cross supplies.
And according to the Red Cross, now that the U.S. national shortage has gotten even worse seeing a 10% decline in the number of donors since the beginning of the pandemic, they are trying to be realistic with their goals this year.
“Our goal is to collect 500 units of blood,” USU student and American Red Cross school club coordinator Bridger Esplin said. “We have collected over 1000 in past years but donations slowed down quite a bit due to the pandemic so we are trying to build up to that point again.”
Though USU has held onto the trophy and won the competition for the past three years, Esplin said the most important part is the impact it makes.
“Blood drives save lives,” he said. “The drives on campus are a great way for USU and the community to be involved in a great cause together.”
In January, the Red Cross sent out a press release declaring their first-ever blood crisis amid the Omicron surge, saying it’s the worst blood shortage in over a decade.
The press release stated, “Amid this crisis, doctors have been forced to make difficult decisions about who receives blood transfusions and who will need to wait until more products become available.”
The Red Cross includes blood statistics on their website as well to put the critical need into perspective.
“Nearly 5,000 units of platelets and 6.500 units of plasma are needed daily in the U.S.,” one reads.
Another reads, “Every 2 seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood and or platelets.”
With these statistics in mind, both schools continue to be hopeful that adding the competitive factor will increase donations.
“Everyone has a bit of a competitive bone so it can’t hurt to make it a competition with Weber State,” Esplin said. “As I have talked with students in the past during this event to encourage them to donate, the competition aspect of the drive has definitely pushed tentative donors to choose to donate for the first time. Aggies have lots of school pride and we don’t want to lose.”
In addition to the motivation to keep the winning streak going, free t-shirts will also be given to donors.
Some USU students like Madison Shreve, said in a previous Statesman article, that the battle adds fun to what can otherwise be scary.
“I think that the thought of beating WSU in anything is extremely appealing,” Shreve said. “Competition makes something that is uncomfortable for some, something that can be fun because you get to contribute.”
However, other USU students like Joelle Sanpei, said the competition doesn’t give her motivation to donate, but understanding how it can help others does.
“Universities are full of young, healthy individuals who could easily donate blood, versus other populations where individuals have higher risk for donating,” she said.
USU students, faculty and Logan community members with all blood types are highly encouraged to donate.
Individuals must be at least 17 years old — or 16 with parental consent in Utah — be in good health, haven’t donated blood in the last 56 days, and meet certain height and weight requirements depending on their age.
To prepare to donate, the American Red Cross suggests drinking lots of water — an extra 16 ounces of water is recommended before donating— and eating lots of iron-rich types of foods such as red meat or poultry.
The blood battle highly encourages appointments but will accept walk-ins. To schedule an appointment, visit https://www.redcrossblood.org/.
According to Esplin, if you aren’t eligible or can’t make it to the annual competition, there are currently 30 other drives throughout the Logan area planned before the end of 2022.
-Jacee.Caldwell@usu.edu
Featured photo by Bailey Rigby