Blood Drive at CHS
On Friday, March 18, 2016, Chapin High School will be holding its annual Red Cross Blood Drive. The American Red Cross Association’s mission is to prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found. Participants make this possible. Students are encouraged to sign up through Beta Club or NHS students.
Here are some helpful to know tips prior to donating:
- Get a good night’s sleep
- Drink lots of water or non alcoholic fluids
- Eat a healthy meal
- Remember to bring your donor card, driver’s license or two other forms of ID
- Wear a shirt that’s sleeves can be raised above the elbow
- You must weigh at least 110 pounds (the weight requirement will increase as your height decreases)
There are a few steps to giving blood. When donors show up to the clinic, they will be signed in and the nurses will go over the basic donation information. One will read a packet on donating blood, and then will answer questions about one’s health history and travel locations. The nurses will check the donor’s blood pressure, pulse, hemoglobin levels, and temperature. The donation process will take around 8-10 minutes, and is extremely sterile and safe. If you are donating platelets, red cells or plasma, this can take up to two hours. After donating donors will receive a snack and refreshment, and are allowed to leave the site after 10-15 minutes.
When asked what made him want to participate in the blood drive, Coach Bailey, a history teacher at Chapin High School, said, “It goes all the way back to 9/11. There were so many people lined up at Red Cross stations to give blood and after that I felt like that since I have a certain type of blood that is hard to come by that I should do it as often as I could.”
Hank Manos, a sophomore at CHS, said, “I just want to help people.”
The goal for this upcoming blood drive is to donate 76 pints. If this is accomplished, the Red Cross will give Chapin High School $250 in scholarship money for a select amount of donors. Better yet, if 100 pints of blood are donated, the scholarship money given will go up to $500.
