Blood drive succeeds in saving lives

Junior Ophielia Hsiao gave her blood to Blood Source on Sept. 19.

By Sophia Lodigiani,
BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

Davis High’s Red Cross Club partnered with Blood Source, a nonprofit blood donation organization, to run a blood drive in the South Gym on Sept. 19. There were 67 participants, with 52 of them donating blood for their first time, and 44 pints of blood were collected. 

School nurse Abby Serin aided the club in the process by organizing the distribution of permission slips and planning how the blood drive would hand out passes to students on the day of the event. 

According to senior Jun Kim, vice president of the Red Cross Club, many students harbor a fear of needles, which can deter them from donating blood.

“[I]f you don’t look at it, you won’t feel it,” Kim said.

Serin adds that “the workers are professionals that know how to do it.”

Among these professionals was Adrienne Telco-Siegel, a phlebotomist for Blood Source. She worked as a registered nurse for the blood drive, cross checking documents from the students coming in to donate.

“It [was] a little slower than we expected […] but it [went] very smoothly,” Telco-Siegel said.

Serin said that her first-hand experience showed her the donated blood will go to a good cause.

According to Serin, who formally worked at a hospital, donated blood can help people who have just gone through traumatic experiences, such as a car crash, people who have chronic illnesses and it can also contribute to aid in emergencies such as Hurricane Harvey.

“Know what you are doing; [donating is] not just to get out of class or to get the cookies, it is to actually save lives,” Serin said. 

 

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