Pace Paw Print

Once again, the time has come around to donate blood. On April 16 between 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Pace University will be conducting a blood drive on the Pleasantville campus.

The process of donating blood is rather simple. Firstly, volunteers must be at least 17 years old, 110 pounds, and in good health. Before blood is taken, the volunteer is asked several questions in order to assess the likelihood of any behavior that may indicate their blood is not 100 percent disease/infection free.

Some questions may be asked about sexual behavior, drug use, traveling, current health history, and so on. Next, the volunteer's temperature, blood pressure, and volume of red blood cells in a sample are inspected. If any findings of these raise a red flag, the volunteer will be turned away. When this happens, organizations create a list of those who are not eligible for blood donation.

Individuals will not be allowed to donate blood if:

* They have a present cold or flu

* They are HIV/AIDS positive

* They received a tattoo within the last twelve months, because of concerns with hepatitis

They gave birth, had an abortion or miscarriage in the last six weeks

Hepatitis or jaundice after age eleven

These are not the only risk factors that prevent volunteers from donating blood, but contribute to the reasons that individuals are turned away.

Once blood is collected it is the organizations job to keep all blood away from each other to prevent contamination. All the blood received is tested for many diseases and viruses such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B or C, West Nile Virus, etc., to assure that there is no risk of transmitting any diseases to the recipient of the blood.

Under no circumstances is any blood that is donated used unless it has passed all necessary tests.

Typically, a pint of blood is taken. One student, Edward Grant, claims that he would not donate blood because he has "a certain amount of blood in [his] body for a reason." However, losing one pint of blood does not pose any serious harmful effects.

On average, a healthy adult has ten to twelve pints of blood. With a loss of one pint, strength is not compromised.

However, after donating individuals may feel lightheaded and dizzy and are often instructed to eat a light snack and remain seated for at least fifteen minutes. Furthermore, it is recommended that volunteers drink extra fluids for the following 24 hours.

According to mayoclinic.com, other instructions given to blood donors include:

* Avoid strenuous exercise

* Avoid lifting the arm used to donate blood

* Avoid taking aspirin, Motrin, etc.

With little risk in donating blood, volunteers are urged to give.

Bloodtissue.org states that every three seconds someone is in need of blood. Severe burn victims may

require up to twenty pints or more of blood. Every one in ten patients who enter the hospital need donated blood, as there is no substation of human blood.

Sadly, only five percent of the population in America donates blood when approximately sixty percent is eligible. In total, almost 32,000 pints are used every day in the U.S. which depletes the supply. If every person eligible donated blood at least twice a year, it would dramatically increase and maintain U.S.' blood supply.

Every eight weeks, volunteers are able to donate. Best of all, donating is free and only requires four short steps: giving a medical history, participating in a brief physical, donating, and then enjoying a snack.

So if you are ready to make a difference if another person's life, start today by taking an hour of your time to donate blood.

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