On March 25, NASH’s Health and Physical Education Department and Vitalant hosted a blood drive with the help of student volunteers. The drive lasted from 7:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. According to NASH PE teacher Mrs. Roman, over 170 students participated, and 100 units of blood were collected.
Jennifer Davis, a Senior Director of Donor Recruitment at Vitalant, brought awareness to blood donation and how it saves lives.
“Blood donation cannot be manufactured,” Davis said. “It can only come as a gift from another human being, and it’s life-saving. Each person that comes in and donates blood can help up to three patients in our local hospitals here in the Pittsburgh area.”
Gary Sarti, Account Manager of Donor Recruitment at Vitalant, discussed the process of how blood will be transported to local hospitals.
“Your blood will go from this collection site to our facility in Green Tree,” he said. “There, it typically takes about two to three days to complete testing. The blood is separated into its components—red cells, plasma, and platelets—which are then stored at our facility. Each component is tested, processed, labeled, and prepared for distribution. After that, it’s sent to hospitals based on need. The entire process begins at our Green Tree facility and then supplies around 50 hospitals across western Pennsylvania.”
Mr. Winters, a NASH PE teacher, has donated blood many times before.
“It’s very rewarding, knowing that I will save a life,” she said. “It’s a random act of kindness that saves people. I try to donate every 56 days. The reason why I wait 56 days is so my blood can replenish.”
Many students donated blood for the first time on Wednesday.
Paden Spevetz, a NASH junior, felt a bit scared for the blood drive.
“I was a little worried about my eligibility because my heart rate is often over 100 beats per minute, and I also have fibromyalgia,” he said. “Both of those can sometimes make it harder to donate, so I was concerned I might be turned away.”
Sanjeev Arora, a NASH junior, explained his experience after he donated blood.
“I felt pretty good afterwards,” he said. “You can feel a little bit weird when you’re doing it there, especially for your first time. I think after a while it will be totally fine.”
For junior Remi Hayward, donating blood proved to be less of a concern than she had expected.
“I’ve had blood drawn before, but this was my first donation,” she said. “I was overthinking it at first, but it was much better that I’d imagined.”
For junior May Eberle, last Wednesday’s blood drive at NASH was not her first.
“This my was third time donating blood,” she said. “It’s something I can do to help other people that is easy and makes a big difference.”
For students and staff who were not able to make an appointment during the spring drive, Vitalant collects blood donations year-round. More information can be found on their website.
