Loading ...Students at Palo Alto High School will have the opportunity to donate blood to the American Red Cross all day this Thursday.
Seniors Andrea Clerici-Hermandinger and Hillel Zand, members of Paly’s Red Cross Club that will be working in conjunction with the official American Red Cross, are organizing the blood drive, which will be held in the Social Studies Resource Center. The American Red Cross will be providing everything from nurses to snacks, but the event is being hosted by the Paly club. According to Zand, the drive will last from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Clerici-Hermandinger elaborated on the benefits provided through giving blood.
“By giving blood, you will be saving a life or lives in less than 45 minutes,” she said. “Seems like a small price to pay for what it means to someone else. Also, there’s tons of food, you find out your blood type and you get a free T-shirt.” Students wishing to donate blood will need to sign up for 45 minute time slots, she said.
“When you arrive at the Social Studies Resource Center, Hillel and I will be there to greet you and check your ID, which everyone should bring with them,” she said. “Then, you will enter a private cubicle with a nurse where they will ask you basic questions about your health followed by a small exam (consisting of taking your blood pressure and iron levels).”
Donating blood itself is a rather short process.
“You will then proceed to donate blood which takes 5-10 minutes,” she said. “After donating blood you will hang out for about 15 minutes and devour your choice of snacks and drinks, provided by American Red Cross. Then you’re off to class with a snazzy limited addition shirt and bragging rights.”
There are, however, regulations and parameters that prospective donors should be aware of.
“Donors have to be either 16 with a waiver or at least 17 without a waiver,” Zand said. “You can’t have gone to any malaria-risk countries in the last year and you can’t have any sort of disease that can be transmitted through blood. There are height and weight requirements which can be found on the Red Cross website. Most guys meet them, but some girls don’t because they might not weigh enough.”
Students will be briefed on these upon registering. To register, please find the Red Cross Club table at lunch this week or contact the club representatives directly.
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