Despite an increasing push to get donated blood, Red Terrapins is falling short of their individual goals for each drive because of a persistent iron deficiency among many college students.

After partnering with Donors for Life, a Bethesda-based marketing and consulting company for the American Red Cross, the Red Terrapins has increased the number of blood drives from four last semester to 39 expected by the end of the semester, said Sophia Rigatos, Donors for Life district manager.

The more aggressive campaign to get blood donators, however, revealed up to 40 percent of students who wanted to donate couldn’t because the iron levels in their blood was too low. For each drive Red Terrapins hosts – 24 so far – the iron deficiency forces them to miss their self-imposed goals of getting 75 to 100 pints of blood, Rigatos said.

“It’s a real problem, besides for the fact that it hurts blood drives, it’s bad health for the students,” Rigatos said. “They need iron for blood to move.”

Iron is found in hemoglobin, the respiratory protein of red blood cells responsible for oxygen movement. Low iron levels can cause a decrease in hemoglobin, which leads to anemia.

The symptoms of anemia caused by iron deficiency are fatigue and dizzy spells. Students who have low iron levels should go to the University Health Center and get their hemoglobin levels tested, said Gail Lee, the health center’s clinical director.

“If you do have iron deficiency anemia, you should have your iron tested,” Lee said. “You don’t want to make that assumption.”

Nationally, about 16 percent of women ages 14 through 50 do not obtain enough iron from their diet, according to a United States Department of Agriculture report released in September.

Iron is found in meat, beans, whole wheat bread and nuts. When paired with food high in Vitamin C, the body is better able to absorb the iron, and beverages like tea, coffee and cola impair iron absorption, according to the health center.

“I feel bad because I’d like to help,” said Rhea Bright, a senior communication major who was turned away from yesterday’s blood drive at Annapolis Hall because of low iron levels.

Despite regularly falling short of each blood drive’s goals, the amount of blood donated this semester is higher than all of the spring semester. Since September, the campus donated 1,200 pints of blood compared to 2,000 in all from the spring and fall semesters, Red Cross officials said.

Last year the university was recognized as College of the Year by the American Red Cross for its abundant blood donations, said Annika Richard, president of Red Terrapins.

However, last year the Red Terrapins only coordinated four drives that were plagued with long waits. One drive was located on the floor of Cole Field House, forcing students to walk up stairs to leave, causing several of them to feel sick or faint.

To create more convenient and organized drives, and to improve the low blood resources in the greater Washington area, the Red Terrapins partnered with Donors for Life this semester, Richard said.

“Five percent of the eligible population give blood, that’s pretty horrible that the number is so low,” Richard said. “That’s the reason we want to have so many blood drives and promote it as often as we can.”

The Red Cross considers the Maryland, Washington and Virginia area as having a “blood crisis” because it does not provide enough blood donations to be self-sufficient, forcing the Red Cross to import blood from other regions, Rigatos said.

Contact reporter Ben Block at blockdbk@gmail.com.