Students 16 and older were able to donate blood on March 11 during the school day in the blood drive organized by the Algonquin Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) and the Massachusetts General Hospital bloodmobile.
If eligible to donate blood, precautions must be taken to assure a successful and safe phlebotomy, the process by which blood is extracted from the vein. Staying hydrated throughout the day and eating a proper meal before the blood draw are necessary for a successful experience. The HOSA Instagram account outlined these precautions, including rules surrounding minors donating.
According to the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association, a singular donation of blood can save up to three people’s lives, yet a 40% decrease in donors over the past 20 years has led Massachusetts to a critical blood shortage. HOSA’s blood drive returned last year after an eight-year hiatus. This year, the drive had 63 open slots for donors and a waiting list in case a student canceled.
HOSA advisor and Biology teacher Lori Mott emphasized the importance of blood donation as Massachusetts hospital patients await transplants.
“We have a critical blood shortage in the state, and oftentimes, complicated surgeries require multiple pints of blood,” Mott said. “For example, recently a 19-year-old was in a car accident, injured his liver and spleen and needed 40 units [pints] of blood.”
According to senior Claire Devlin, who serves as HOSA co-president alongside seniors Eva Gulbankian, Catherine Mechael and Meredith Wu, HOSA faced early difficulty publicizing the event.
“The biggest challenge was probably making sure that everyone knew what was happening and really getting the word out there,” Devlin said. “We did a lot of advertising on social media and with posters around the school and morning announcements. I think we filled up all the slots, so it was successful.”
Each giving roughly a pint of blood, the 63 total slots yielded 40 successful donations as some students were deemed ineligible to donate on the day for reasons such as anemia and high or low blood pressure or heart rate.
Senior Ben Kahn donated blood this year and last year. He is grateful for the easy access to blood donation via the HOSA event.
“I think it’s really great that they have a blood bus come to the school because it makes it a lot easier for people who wouldn’t necessarily go out of their way to donate blood,” Kahn said. “I think it’s really important to donate blood, because it’s incredibly important for hospitals to provide care for people.”
The annual blood drive was a success as both a single event and an effort to introduce teens to blood donation.
“I think [high schoolers] have an awareness of what’s going on around them,” Mott said. “They all have families and friends who may have various health complications. It’s a great time for them to be able to have one opportunity to be able to give back to the community and help out about. It’s not for everybody, but if you can, it’s an amazing way to really save a life.”
