Senior Dan Szallasi was ready to give blood. “I was actually a volunteer at the drive,” he said of his decision, “and with the opportunity in front of me, I figured; ‘why not?’.”
“Confident that the people there knew what they were doing,” he waited patiently in a chair in Down’s Gym for his turn to give blood for the first time along with several other first time donors and veterans.
LM’s semi-annual blood drive, held on November 17, collected blood from 157 donors. The drive was organized by the American Red Cross and Sandy Hoopes, a gym and health teacher at LM. This year, Ms. Hoopes’ 27th working on the blood drive, had the second-largest donor turnout in school history (the largest turnout was last year, with 182 donors).
Before giving blood, potential donors must answer a series of questions involving health history, travel, and preexisting medical conditions. At that time, a small amount of blood is drawn from the finger to test for diseases and iron levels. This pre-screening helps to ensure that giving blood is safe for those involved, and that the blood given is not contaminated.
Said senior Kelly Dougherty, a veteran donor, of her experience last year, “I signed up for a time in the morning, showed up, and began the lengthy process of pre-blood giving. I was nervous. I had had blood drawn maybe once before, and everything looked so serious. I thought having gone to Norway every summer for a month or two might disqualify me, but they said I was fine. I passed the iron test on my first try and answered the slightly probing questionnaire. Then I made my way to the massage table beds.”
After passing the pre-screening, donors are led to their individual stations, where they wait for the nurses who will take their blood– although 55 students volunteered for the blood drive, none are involved in the medical procedures or screenings. Once the bag and sterilized needle are set up and the blood begins to flow, it takes just a few minutes to collect the pint of blood, on average, that each person gives.
Said Dougherty of the blood-giving process, “I think temporary discomfort is worth helping three other people… I mean come on, it’s a good bit of blood. But they wouldn’t take it from me if they didn’t think I could handle it– as in, if I were to fail the requirements.”
Once the blood has been collected, the donors can relax at their places while a small bandage is placed on their arms. After donating, students are encouraged to relax on the mats assembled in the gymnasium and eat and drink some of the snacks and beverages provided for them. “A Bloodmobile volunteer helped me over to the mats where they gave me food and drink,” said Dougherty.
Both Dougherty and Szallasi were happy with their decisions to donate blood this year. As Dougherty explained, “It’s an easy way to help others. Blood is something that I, as a healthy human being, am perfectly capable of producing. If giving some is going to help another human being and not harm or inconvenience me in any serious way, then I see almost no excuse for not giving.”
Szallasi said, “It felt good to make a difference.”
And they certainly did. Donating just one pint of blood, the average amount, can save up to three lives. Szallasi reinforced the importance of donating blood. “It says it right on the poster; you’re helping to save someone’s life. I’ve heard people refuse to give blood, claiming that their donation won’t help. I have seen time and time again (in my position as an EMT) where having that blood waiting for someone after a serious accident has made the difference between life and death.”
H. Goldberg-Morse/G. Nathans
Class of ’10/’12
