Steven Abramo
Staff reporter
Students gathered inside the Regnier Center (RC) 101A on Wednesday, Feb. 6, to donate blood at the college’s winter blood drive.
The drive is sponsored by the Community Blood Center and occurred from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The organization plans to host three more drives at the college in 2019.
According to Rick Collins, Collective Supervisor, the event averages 45 donors per drive. In addition, Collins also says the standard amount of blood each patient is required to donate is one pint.
“The entire process takes 10 minutes,” Collins said. “You fill out a [Q&A] and a health history sheet to make sure you’re fit. If everything passes, then you go through a mini physical which consists of blood pressure check, pulse, [and] hemoglobin.”
Hunter Ruskanen, student, donated blood two years ago as a high school junior. Ruskanen first received word of the blood drive simply by noticing a sign in the hallway.
“I was walking by and saw the sign,” Ruskanen said. “I plan to donate a pint today.”
However, due to the snow storm that hit Kansas, the college closed early on Wednesday, at 2 p.m., which directly affected the blood drive.
Though the college’s closure cut the drive short, Cassie Fulk, manager, Student Activities & Leadership Development, said that the Blood Center registered donations on Wednesday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“[The] Community Blood Center registered [that] 38 people donated on Wednesday,” Fulk said. “We did have appointments scheduled through the rest of the day, [but] because we had to close down earlier than scheduled, those people could not donate at [the college].”
Winter donations are crucial especially this year, with the Community Blood Centers experiencing a sharp decline. According to the Community Blood Center, they lost 1,200 units of blood due to winter storms.
Students who are interested in donating blood can find their blood center here or wait for the next blood drive on June 11th and 12th.