Students Participate in Biannual Blood Drive

San Diego Blood Bank hosted its semi-annual blood drive today inside the SDA gym. Signups were held in room 70 over the last month and SDA students filled up all 70 available spots that were open throughout the day.

In order to donate, students ages 15 and 16 first had to complete a permission form with a parent’s signature prior to the day of donation as well as a questionnaire regarding their medical history upon arrival. Those who signed up in advance received permission slips to leave their class five minutes prior to their appointment.

Although students were recommended to sign-up, the San Diego Blood Bank also accepted walk-ins, however this was directed towards teachers or parents who wished to donate.

ASB students volunteered to help out with small tasks like signing in arriving students and holding hands of those who were uncomfortable donating blood.

One requirement was a weight limit of 114 pounds, which forced the San Diego Blood Bank to turn down a handful of students.

Junior Josh Lim, a member of ASB who volunteered his time, said that, “things like low blood pressure and low iron levels also caused students to be turned away, however they [the San Diego Blood Bank] were much less strict this year.”

Among the donors was English teacher Rob Ross, who said, “It’s a good thing to do. People need blood, and finding out I have O- blood makes me a universal donor, so I always try to give when they come to SDA.”

Ross also donates when the San Diego Blood Bank returns in the spring.

Senior Kelly Luong, who has donated for the past three years, said, “I get free food after. I don’t have a fear of needles or anything so it’s easy for me.”

The donation process took around 10-15 minutes, Lim said. Once done, students were required to sit down on a mat for 15 minutes where they were given complimentary drinks, cookies and donuts.

The average person has around 10 pints of blood and roughly one pint is taken during a donation. The San Diego Blood Bank recommended donors to take 24 hours to recover before participating in strenuous activity and drink plenty of fluids over the following days.

The blood collected from Tuesday’s drive will be used to help save lives of local patients across all of San Diego.