The UAB 500: A Different Kind of Race

Start your engines and roll up your sleeves: The UAB 500 Blood Drive kicks off on May 3 at the North Pavilion. It’s a race to collect 500 units of blood during the week-long drive, part of the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s (UAB) Blood Initiative with the American Red Cross. The UAB 500 is sponsored by UAB’s Nursing Service, in honor of Nurses Week.

April 20, 2010

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Start your engines and roll up your sleeves: The UAB 500 Blood Drive kicks off on May 3 at the North Pavilion. It's a race to collect 500 units of blood during the week-long drive, part of the University of Alabama at Birmingham's (UAB) Blood Initiative with the American Red Cross. The UAB 500 is sponsored by UAB's Nursing Service, in honor of Nurses Week.

Dale Jarrett Adventure Racing is providing the heavy horsepower. One of their race cars will be on display in front of the North Pavilion all week, and all donors will be given an opportunity to autograph the hood of the car. There also will be a drawing for one lucky winner to experience 10 laps around the track at Talladega in an actual Jarrett race car.

A Wii racing game will be set up at the drive, and other giveaways will include gas cards, gift baskets and discounted meal tickets for hospital eateries.

The race lasts all week, May 3-7, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., on the second floor atrium of the North Pavilion, at the corner of Sixth Avenue and 18th Street South.

UAB and the Red Cross teamed up in 2005 to better manage blood use and ensure a ready supply in times of need. Last year, UAB set an ambitious goal of collecting 8,000 units of blood, a goal reached on the final day of collection. This year's goal is 9,501 units, and collection is currently behind schedule. 

The hospital will use an estimated 30,000-35,000 units of blood this year. UAB ranks in the top five among hospitals supplied by the Red Cross, and it is one of the nation's largest users of blood products. Donors can give blood up to six times a year, every eight weeks. The overall process takes about 45 minutes. The actual blood collection usually takes less than 20 minutes. Donors need to have a photo ID.

Blood products are used during surgery, transplantation, trauma care, difficult pregnancies and cancer treatment. A single patient may require as many as 100 units.

About UAB

Known for its innovative and interdisciplinary approach to education at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is the state of Alabama's largest employer and an internationally renowned research university and academic health center whose professional schools and specialty patient care programs are consistently ranked as among the nation's top 50; find more information at www.uab.edu and www.uabmedicine.org.