2008 Woodie Awards
Blood drive helps tackle donor shortage
Kristin McKenzie
Issue date: 10/8/07 Section: News
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Carter was tried to inform students of the importance of donating, and get as many donations as possible.
The drive resulted in a total of 41 donors.
"If we had a student or employee who needed blood for an accident or serious illness, we could transfer units to that person," said Mildred Kelley, the school nurse. "Meaning you have to have blood credits in the blood bank to be able to transfer them to a friend in need."
According to the Carter Web site, there are four different types of blood donations and one donation is about one pint of blood. The Web site states 32,000 pints of donated blood are used daily in the U.S.
The most common donation is the whole blood donation where they separate it into four units: red blood cells, platelets, plasma and cryoprecipitate.
The shelf life of red blood cells is 42 days and frozen plasma has the longest shelf life of one year.
"One should look at it [donating] as if you or one of your family members were sick and needed blood, but there was no blood in the bank because there were no donors," Kelley said. "How would you feel?"
To donate blood students can visit Carter's Web site and set up an appointment or find a local blood drive. The Web site states the requirements are one must be at least 17 years old, 110 pounds and in good health. A student can then donate whole blood every 56 days.
"I learned how much blood is in need at hospitals and I have a rare blood type," Ashley Barner, nursing sophomore at Brookhaven, said. "It made me feel that I was helping make a difference."
According to the Web site, if someone donates blood once they could save up to three lives.
Once the blood is donated it is run through 14 tests. Eleven of those are for infectious diseases. Each unit of blood is tested individually.
"I am working on my fourth gallon with Carter BloodCare," Kelley said. "It does not really hurt, just a needle stick."
Kelley said Brookhaven also offers free HIV testing with results given in 20 minutes. Those tests are from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Oct. 2 and Nov. 6 in S072.
According to the University of California San Francisco's HIVinsite Web site, people with HIV can develop AIDS in about 10 years.
The Web site stated, if not treated, the infected person could die of this or another illness that the body's immune system cannot defend against; so the sooner one gets tested the better.
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