October 20, 2015
By Natalie Rodriguez
Dominican University held their blood drive on Wednesday, Oct. 14. With the help of the American Red Cross, Dominican conducts a blood drive every semester. This semester, the blood drive took place in the Social Hall. Residence life coordinated the event with resident assistant, Olivia Szuszkiewicz as the organizer.
“So many people go to the hospital and they don’t realize that they need blood and it’s just incredible that when people do donate, it’s so helpful,” said Szuszkiewicz.
According to the American Red Cross, every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood. As many as five million people need blood transfusions every year. According to the supervisor of the American Red Cross blood drive, Katrina Ruggiero, donations are crucial in helping people in need.
“You can save up to three people with one test tube of blood,” said Ruggiero. “Blood goes to burn victims, people in accidents, people going through chemo, hemophiliacs, people with iron deficiency and many more.”
An air of positivity filled the Social Hall as students filed in waiting for their turn.
“I’m happy I can help save people, so I’ll do whatever it takes,” said junior Mosam Amin.
Resident assistant volunteers Joannah Rivera, Sara Angel and Atzimba Rodriguez, students greeted students and helped the, get started with the donation process. Donors were given a pamphlet including information on the process of donating. Afterwards, they were called one by one by an American Red Cross nurse into a room divider where their iron levels, temperature and blood pressure were tested.
If the student was approved, they were then laid down on a table where they donated one pint of blood. Donors were given various snacks afterwards and told to rest. The whole process took about 45 minutes.
Throughout the day many students showed up but only 44 donations were successfully collected. Several potential donors were rejected due to low iron levels. It’s recommended to eat a diet high in iron a few days before donating. You should also make sure to attain enough sleep and drink plenty of water to ensure that you are hydrated.
The next blood drive will occur in March so be sure to keep your eyes open for the event. Students can either make reservations online or walk in with two forms of photo IDs.
rodrnata@my.dom.edu
