In partnership with the Office of Human Resources, the American Red Cross hosted a Blood Drive on Tuesday, Oct. 28, in the plaza rooms of the Sondra and David S. Mack Student Center. The event ran from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and offered snacks and beverages for any students who took the time to donate. Volunteers from Hofstra University’s Student Nurses Association also assisted in keeping the donation room organized.
Volunteers and staff stayed stationed around the room to ensure a smooth process and safe environment for blood donors.
“At the beginning of the setup, they check in with us,” said Edward Johnson, Red Cross donor relations associate. “We give them a donor ID, we then direct them to the computer where they do a self-health assessment. Then they see a donor specialist where they get a quick medical screening to make sure that they are healthy enough to donate.”
Stations were split across the room and included a spot for check-in, health screening, donation and post-donation monitoring.
“It was a very straightforward process,” said Evan Wu, junior biology major.
For the importance of donor and patient health, donors must fit a strict set of criteria. Some of these restrictions include being in consistent good health, not having donated blood in the past 56 days and weighing above 110 pounds. If interested participants fit all the stated requirements, they move on to the donation process.
The pre-screening involves filling out a quick questionnaire on a touch screen to properly register.
“It went pretty fast. Answering the questions was extremely efficient especially since [there is] a lot of stuff they have to verify,” said Annabelle Brackett, sophomore filmmaking major.
Posters and emails went out a few days before the event to advertise and raise participation levels.
“I got an email about the blood drive, and I had never really done it before, so I figured, why not,” Brackett said.
Blood only lasts for 42 days so [it is] important for hospitals everywhere to get a regular supply of fresh blood.
“Every day people need blood at hospitals for surgeries, accidents, cancer treatments and all kinds of other illnesses that people have,” Johnson said. “Newborns need blood and new mothers very often need blood.”
People who successfully donated receive a donor card in the mail. The card states their name, blood type and allows them to use it for a quicker process next time they donate.
“This is my third or fourth time donating,” said Amarie Lafreniere, sophomore exercise physiology major. “I feel like I’m helping people when I donate, and I like that.”
Fall usually marks the busy season for hospitals and a significant drop in donors, so blood drives hosted at local locations and schools promote donations and help address rampant ongoing shortages.
Each donation of blood helps several different people.
“It’s so important because at some point in everybody’s life, they’re gonna have to have blood, so it’s important to give back,” Brackett said.
After donating, volunteers monitored donors to ensure that they were healthy, replenishing cookies, juice and water.
“We don’t want to make donors unhealthy [from] donating,” Johnson said.
After the donation concluded, the Red Cross packaged the blood and sent it to labs for processing and testing. There, the blood was sorted and distributed to hospitals.
“It’s important to donate because it saves lives and you never know when it’s going to be you,” Lafreniere said. “If you need blood, you’re going to want other people to be donating in case you need it in your own life.”
The Red Cross has facilitated blood drives for over three decades at Hofstra and continue to host one every semester. However, interested participants can still donate on their own through other donation sites around the state and country hosted by the Red Cross.
