By Peter Hyle and Christian DiMartino
Tag Archives: Blood Drive
NHS hosts annual blood drive
By Sidney Reynolds
Seniors Abby Marguet and Joe Wolf wait patiently to sign people in for the annual blood drive that is held at FC.
“I’m glad we are it doing it because it benefits our school and the people that receive the blood,” said Marguet.
Monday’s blood drive was hosted by The American Red Cross and the National Honor Society and helps raise scholarship money for NHS.
Students who donated had to pass some basic requirements such a being given a mini physical and having their health history checked. Once the test is passed a person was able to donate one pint of blood or two units of red cells, which is the same amount of blood.
“Some kids do it just to get out of class but they are still doing it. Holding it here gets people to donate who normally wouldn’t,” said senior Carmen Keehn.
Once a person donated, a NHS member helped them get a snack and a drink.
“I give them snacks and drinks. Then I patrol to make sure no one else passes out,” said Keehn.
The red cells people donate can only last 42 days, and The American Red Cross is always in need of donations.
“There’s always such a need for blood because of people with illnesses or car accidents,” said Lt. Col. Ben Gipe.
The students that donated blood on Monday received community service hours, along with the satisfaction of help saving lives.
“My dad had to get blood donated to him a few years ago and I think that’s why he donates. He got me into wanting to do it. Last year but I wasn’t old enough. I got to donate this year,” said Keehn.
Students were not the only ones to donate blood; teachers and staff members also did.
“It’s good for the kids to see, even if they aren’t only enough to donate yet,” said assistant principal Rob Willman.
“I’m proud of FC for hosting it, and it’s cool all the students helped out,” said Gipe.
Students give blood in annual Red Cross blood drive
By Claire Gapsis
When one thinks of a blood drive one might think of long needles and people fainting everywhere. The truth, though, is far from that. People often feel nerves, even the people who donate blood often, but it is natural to feel nervous. Ones life source is flowing into a plastic bag.
Monday, March 5, FC students of 17 years of age and older gave blood as members of the National Honor Society watched over them.
Seniors Haley Dresner and Kate Kaiser are two NHS members who sat at the snack table, waiting for donors to be done so they could hand out drinks and snacks. It was both of their first time helping out at a blood drive. They agreed that they volunteered to help the community out, which coincided with gaining a few community service hours.
Senior Rachel Engle was sitting across from Dresner and Kaiser and had just given blood. It was her first time giving blood and while she had been nervous she was glad she did it. She said, “I gave blood because I feel it’s a need and I wanted to help out the community.”
There were other volunteers waiting around to help donors from the beds where one donates the blood to the snack table. One volunteer waiting to help was senior Catt Eicher. “I feel the energy of the room is relaxed. There are volunteers here who are friends with people on the tables and that helps calm them [the donors] down,” she said.
Eicher rebutted the idea that people often faint, she had not seen a single person faint since the blood drive started at 10. The nurses were doing their job in making sure that no one who was not fit to give blood ended up on the table.
One nurse that was checking to make sure the donors were able to give blood was Marcy. She had been a nurse for five years and often worked blood drives. “Fainting is always the most serious thing that happens but it doesn’t happen often.” She explained. Since the weight requirement went up less people have fainted at blood drives. She believes that blood drives at schools are good ideas because the students are the future donors and need to know that blood is needed.
Another nurse that was present was Nathan. He had only been a nurse for four weeks but he had been in health care services for a few years before he became a nurse. He said, ”We’re supposed to keep the donors down, lead them to the waiting area to collect themselves if necessary.” If the donors could not calm themselves down then they were deferred.
Senior Zak Wright was giving blood for his fourth time and did not feel the tiniest bit nervous. Perhaps it was because of the music in the background to give the donors something to try to focus on or just being friendly to the nurse who hooked him up. “To me it feels fantastic, just a little draining.” he laughed.
Blood drives are not scary and giving blood might drain one a bit but it is always for a good cause. If one ever finds themselves nervous or slightly scared focus on something else- ones breathing, music in the background, people talking, or find someone else to talk to. There is much going on a blood drives but fainting is not one of them.