Organizers were disappointed with the turnout for last Tuesday’s blood drive, which was coordinated and organized by Paly’s Key Club and completely paid for and supplied by the Stanford Blood Center’s mobile team.
"We had 58 people sign in," Stanford Blood Drive coordinator Lisa Kohara said. From that group, 23 were deferred for reasons such as low blood iron or because of past residence in certain international locales, she said.
Two others either had veins too small to draw from or were unable to produce enough blood for an entire donation. In all, the drive raised 35 productive units of blood, 23 of which were from first-time donors.
The results paled in comparison to last year’s drive, which drew 84 people. Of those, 30 were deferred, and one was unable to complete the donation. Out of the 53 productive blood units acquired, 46 were first-time donors.
According to Kohara, between 150 and 200 people sign in as potential donors at an average high school blood drive. During a blood drive held last Friday at Del Mar High School in San Jose, she noted, 101 volunteers showed up.
At Paly, Key Club volunteers delivered yellow appointment excuse slips to the classes of potential donors who had signed up with a Key Club representative. Walk-in participants were excused from class as well for their appointment. Students 17 and older with official picture ID were eligible to donate autonomously, while 16-year-olds were allowed to do so with written parental consent.
After signing in, potential donors filled out a questionaire to determine if they were medically qualified to donate, then tested for suitable pulse, blood pressure, temperature and hemoglobin (blood iron) levels and briefly interviewed. Approved candidates were seated in special reclining donation chairs to have blood drawn.
A donation consists of one pint (450 mL) of whole blood, or approximately 8-10% of the body’s blood supply. The withdrawal process itself lasts between five and 10 minutes, then donors are escorted to a canteen for 15 minutes to recover and be monitored for complications. Jovial volunteers plied donors with juice, water, assorted free cookies, popcorn, pretzels, and even ice cream to rejuvenate blood nutrition.
"Student blood goes to the [Stanford Blood] Center and gets tested, and then goes to hospitals," according to Center registrar Cynthia Zapanta. Blood is used by "Stanford Hospital mainly, but wherever it’s needed."
"The majority of them [donors] are students, actually," senior Key Club president Stephanie Hsi said. "But we do have … teachers who donate."
Last year, the drive exceeded its target of 80 donors. "A lot more people volunteered, but the blood was rejected," Hsi said. The club’s goal was to secure another 80 donors this time around but was unsure whether that would be met on account of organizational difficulties, since the event was scheduled later on in spring than in the previous year. Ultimately, the drive did not meet its mark for various reasons, according to Hsi.
"In my personal opinion, we did a worse job of coordinating this year because we did it [the drive] right after AP week, so we didn’t have time to go chase people around [to sign up donors]," Hsi said. Lack of knowledge about the event could have discouraged potential walk-in participants as well.
Sophomore Key Club member Alex Ji volunteered in various capacities, ranging from excuse-slip runner to canteen server.
"I’m interested in helping the community," Ji said. "At the same time, there’s free food for donors, and [the experience is] also helpful in case I want to pursue a medical career."
"On the whole, I felt good that I was helping to save a number of dying orphans around the country," junior donor Greg Murphy joked.
"[I] hope that everyone can find it in themselves to give a little back to the community," he added.
According to the Stanford Blood Center website’s information about donation statistics, "five percent of all hospitalized patients receive blood transfusions," on average using three pints each. Most recipients "are patients with cancer, heart disease, gastrointestinal disease, fractures and trauma, anemia, bone and joint abnormalities, organ transplants, and lung, liver and kidney disease." An average woman’s body contains about nine pints of blood, while an average man has 16 pints.
Donors can give blood as frequently as every 56 days, if desired. The body replenishes its red blood cell supply completely within a few weeks after donating.
For the 2003-04 fiscal year, according to its website, the Stanford Blood Center catalogued 39,174 whole blood donations and thousands more in partial and specialized donations.
Reporter Jessie Ebert contributed to this article.