American Red Cross Blood Drive Today

by Skye Pinney

The American Red Cross was founded in 1881 by Clara Barton. Today, its employees and volunteers help care for members of the military and people affected by disasters. It provides services in international relief and development, safety education and training, and blood collection and distribution. It supplies more than 40 percent of the nation’s blood products.

This Thursday, October the 11^th, the Pre-Professional Medical Society sponsored one of its four yearly Red Cross blood drives in the ARMAH room of the Lane Center. They received 50 sign-ups and about as many walk-ins, reaching their goal of 80 units of blood.

If you are like me and know very little about the blood donation process, here is the run-down, courtesy of Pre-Med Society member and blood drive chair Jen Scudder:

“You sign up (or walk-in), sign in, and then read over a packet that gives you a general idea of what will cause you to not be able to donate your blood.  You are then called over to get your vitals checked – temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, iron levels (this requires a finger prick).  Afterwards, you have to answer about twenty questions on the computer that will determine if you are able to donate or not. Once you are clear, you are led over to a table to lie down and have the area of your arm where the needle is inserted sterilized to rid the area of bacteria.  Then, they put the needle into your vein and begin to take your blood.  Once the plastic bag (the “unit”) is full, they take a few smaller samples that will go to labs to be analyzed before your blood is deemed acceptable for transfusions, and then they take the needle out.  You are then walked over to the canteen area where you are given a drink and a snack and are asked to sit for at least 15 minutes before leaving.”

The blood units are then stored in a safe place until the blood samples are analyzed and cleared for use. Unfortunately, blood does not have a long shelf life, which is one of the reasons blood drives are hosted so often.

The process is simple, and Jen encourages anyone eligible to give blood to do so. There is always a need for blood, and a single unit can save three lives! She e-mailed me the link to this touching American Red Cross video about a little girl battling cancer and how blood donations helped her:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHsfi2fExuo

So, who can donate blood?

Anyone who:

-weighs at least 110 pounds

-is at least 17 years old

-does not have a blood disease

-has not gotten a tattoo or piercing in the past 12 months

-has not traveled outside of the U.S. or Canada in the past year

-has not been vaccinated or taken antibiotics in the past week

-has appropriate iron levels and blood pressure (which is determined when donors' vitals are checked)

Because donors can give blood every 56 days, the Pre-Med Society tries to host a drive every 8 weeks during the school year. If you are interested in donating, watch out for their next drive in December!