Ireland Rodriguez

After successfully donating blood, junior Cristal Alvarez goes through the recovery process with the help of nurse Kathy Consule. “I feel like I’m very blessed to have so much blood,” Alvarez said. “A lot of people need it so I’m not scared to donate my blood just to help people out.”

In recent years, Alisal has had the opportunity to host a Blood Drive in partnership with the American Red Cross. This year’s blood drive was held on February 9th in the Multipurpose Room. The blood drive serves as a way for students and teachers to be able to help their community and save lives. 

The Blood Drive first made its reappearance at Alisal after Covid when Uriel Gutierrez took over as Health Academy Coordinator. “It was on a to-do list of things to get students hours and get them hands-on in pursuing the medical field,” Gutierrez said.

Although this may seem like a great opportunity for students, it is only open to some. To be able to participate students must meet certain requirements set by the American Red Cross. Donors should be at least 16 years of age and have parental consent. Students must also meet the required age, height, and weight based on their sex. Donors should weigh more than 110 lbs, depending on their height. The American Red Cross states, “Blood volume is determined by body weight and height. Individuals with low blood volumes may not tolerate the removal of the required volume of blood given with whole blood donation.“ 

For example, a male at 4’10 must weigh 118 lbs, 4’11 must weigh 114 lbs, and someone 5’0 must weigh 110 lbs. There are more requirements for females when it comes to height and weight. Compared to males, if a female is 4’10 they must weigh 146 lbs, at 4’11 they must weigh 142 lbs, at 5’0 they must weigh 138 lbs, and so on. “The reason it’s like that is because males have more muscles and that carries more blood, so it’s a lot harder for a female to donate blood,” Gutierrez said. 

Some other reasons as to why one may not be able to donate are if they have traveled outside of the US, have low iron, are on some sort of medication, and have a cold, flu, or other types of illnesses. Both students and staff consider these requirements since maintaining your health is the best way to ensure the process runs smoothly when donating. “I ate a lot and made sure to stay hydrated and I also made sure to stay away from people that are sick,” teacher Pedro Ramirez said. 

Many donors paid extra attention to their health in the upcoming days to their donation. “I made sure to eat breakfast every day to supplement some iron and drank a lot of water,” senior Daniel Francisco-Navarro said.  

Based on the requirements, students must donate at least 470 milliliters of blood if they are under 155 lbs and anything above that would be 520 milliliters. Some unfortunately do not meet these requirements and are turned away during their appointments. “I felt bad because I really was excited to donate blood,” senior Viviana Delgado said. “I like helping people so it kinda makes me want to donate more blood, but because I didn’t meet it (the requirements) I’m kinda sad and bummed out.” 

While the purpose of the blood drive is to donate blood, many students expect some form of compensation for their blood. “A lot of people wanna get paid for their blood but unfortunately they do not,” Gutierrez said. This might be discouraging to people but it is important to keep in mind that by donating blood you will greatly benefit your community. “Your blood makes a difference and you can save people’s lives.” 

So what makes people want to donate blood? Unlike those who expected some form of compensation, many of the donors agreed that it is important to help those within their community if it costs them nothing. “I guess I just figured if I have it I can give it away,” Assistant Principal Juan Ledesma said. 

Donating is a great way to give back to the community. “Think about the lives you’re saving and I think it’s very important that you worry less about your fear and overcome it because you’re actually helping people live,” Ramirez said. Sharing this same train of thought, Francisco-Navarro encourages students and staff to not be afraid when donating and gives some great advice to those who may feel anxious. “Deep breaths, just if anything you can just not pay attention to the needle and just interact with the nurse or whoever it is that’s helping you and kinda just get comfortable, it’s easier to get through the moment if you realize that they’re nice.” 

This year, with the help of students and staff we were able to contribute 30 units of blood for the blood drive which met their goal of 30 units. The blood collected will serve to help those within the community who are in need. Gutierrez felt the day was successful. “I think the blood drive ran smoothly, I had returning volunteers and it was well planned,” he said.