Members of the American Red Cross will be coming to Plymouth High School on Thursday April, 11 to collect blood. Photo by: Patricia Ortiz
By Patricia Ortiz-Corona
On April 11 Plymouth High School will be helping in saving lives by hosting its annual Blood Drive.
According to Mrs. Laura Kruyer, who is coordinating the event, The Blood Drive has been going on for, “at LEAST 25 years to when I was a student at PHS and Mr. Schockney was organizing it.”
Mrs. Kruyer states that the blood drive got started because there is always a need for blood. While donating blood can have a rewarding feeling, it also, “enables many high school students to donate for the first time and develop a sense of community as they learn the importance of giving,” states Mrs. Kruyer.
The American Red Cross is responsible for collecting the blood, and they come to PHS twice a year (once in the fall and then again in the spring) to collect blood. Mrs. Kruyer states that once the blood has been collected it has to go through a series of tests (HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, and other diseases) to make sure that the blood is healthy for another person to receive. She goes on to explain that the “approved blood donations then go to local hospitals for use. Almost everyone during his/her life will know someone who needs a blood transfusion. They may be [in a] car accident or trauma victims, cancer or transplant patients, or sick people with sickle cell disease or other blood disorders. There is no substitute and still only one source of blood for transfusion – volunteer blood donors.”
Mrs. Kruyer and The American Red Cross are not the only ones involved in helping The Blood Drive run smoothly. According to Mrs. Kruyer, The Varsity Club is the club that sponsors this event. Mrs. Kruyer explains that the members of the club, “help to organize, set-up, and work the blood drive.”
In order to donate blood one must meet a variety of requirements. Mrs. Kruyer states that one needs to be, “at least sixteen years of age and in good health.” In addition to the age and health requirements, a potential donors also needs to have certain height and weight requirements and they must also fill out papers in order to be evaluated if they are an eligible donor.
Donors do not just sign up and wait for the event to take place. They must prepare for the event by doing a variety of things to assure that they will be healthy to donate blood. Mrs. Kruyer states that those who are planning on donating blood should, “get at least eight hours of sleep the night before the donation. Eat a healthy breakfast or lunch- both if the appointment is later in the day. Drink a few extra glasses of water or fluids in the day before the donation. Remember, each donation saves 3 lives.”
There is a large variety of students signed up to donate blood. There are some students that are new to donating blood and others who are veteran donors. For seniors Angel Figueroa and Maria Rodriguez, sophomore Faith Hutchens, and junior Geoff Espich donating blood will be a new experience for them.
Being new comers to donating, there can be some uncertainty as to what to expect. Hutchens says that the scariest thing for her is, “knowing the risk of the things that could happen to you. Because you hear stories of how other people reacted to it and you are wondering how you will react to when you give blood.” For Figueroa the scariest thing for him would have to be fainting. New donors are not the only ones that have fears for that day. Junior Cody Critchlow and senior Alejandra Renteria are afraid of the uncertainty of donating blood. For Renteria her uncertainty springs from, “how long it is going to take because it is a little uncomfortable to have a needle in your arm.”
Whether they are fearful or not, each and every student that will participate in the blood drive has a special reason why he/she donates. Senior Brandon Brashere explained that he is donating blood because, “it is a good way to commit to charity that does not require money or a great amount of time on my part.” Critchlow said that the reason why he is donating blood is because he knows, “somebody out there needs it greatly so I am a proud downer.” Saving someone’s life is also a motivation to donate blood. Senior Brian Deacon says that saving a life is the main reason for donating blood.
Students are preparing for the big day by properly preparing for the event before that day and the morning of the blood drive. Espich is preparing by, “eating healthier and drinking more water.” Like Espich, junior Michael Meyer is preparing for the big day with the exception that Meyer will, “go to sleep much earlier than,” he normally does.
The morning of the event also requires some sort of preparation on the student’s part. Rodriguez will be preparing for her donation by, “eat[ing] a good breakfast and drink[ing] water,” the morning of the event since her donation is a little later on in the day.