A Red Cross blood drive sponsored by the Alpha Phi sorority was held in the Hoosier Room on Feb. 23 and Feb. 24.
Michele Stensrud, operations supervisor for the drive, said it was very near to surpassing its goal of 40 pints of blood collected by the last day of the drive.
Stensrud said she, along with Red Cross nurses and technicians, hold blood drives across a 100-mile radius from Bloomington, Ind., to Glasgow, Ind., to help keep the blood supply used in hospitals for everything from transplants to treating trauma victims.
“The level of our blood reserves is supposed to be enough for three days,” Stensrud said.
“When it starts to go down, surgeries can be cancelled, so we are always in need of replenishment.”
Stensrud said both college and high school student populations are vital to the success of blood drives.
“College and high school students are a big part of keeping our supply up,” she said.
“The IU community is a big contributor to our blood drives as well,” Strensrud said.
Each blood donor can donate one to two pints of blood at a time in the 45 minutes it takes to complete the process.
For perspective, the human body can hold 10 to 12 pints of blood, with as few as one pint needed for a simple surgery. It takes about 30 pints for complicated procedures like transplants or treating trauma survivors, Stensrud said.
Many people are eligible to become blood donors, but there are some restrictions.
“As far as age goes, you can begin to give blood at 16 with parental consent, and can continue through any age,” Stensrud said.
“We will also need to make sure you’re in good health, no colds or on antibiotics at the time,” she said. “Also, if you’ve traveled out of the country to places affected by malaria, there’s a year deferral period before you can donate blood.”
Once a person has decided to become a donor, there are some precautions to take the day before and the day of giving blood.
“A day or two before you give blood, you should always eat and hydrate well, especially during the summer months,” Stensrud said.
“The day you give blood, again, make sure you eat well and drink lots of water before and after you donate to keep yourself from becoming dizzy,” she said.
She also said the importance of donating blood can be seen by putting yourself into the place of those who need the transfusions.
“The people who are really committed to donating blood are usually those whose lives have been touched by it in someway,” Stensrud said.
“You should donate blood whenever you can because you never know when you, your mother, your friend or child could be the one who needs it,” she said.
Andy Haub, elementary education junior, said he understood the importance of donating blood from the perspective of both a donor and recipient.
“I had a spinal cord injury after a car accident in 2000,” Haub said.
“If someone else hadn’t given blood, I wouldn’t be here, so I definitely feel the urgency to give to others,” he said.
For Jennifer Jones, undecided sophomore, donating blood is important because it’s a simple way to give back.
“It’s good to give blood because people need it, and it’s an easy way to help that anyone can do,” Jones said.
By AMY FAULHABER
Staff Writer
amfaulha@ius.edu
