JCCC recently held a blood drive on campus, I go to talk to Braeden Althoff about the importance of donating.
(Althoff)“Donating blood is strictly related to being able to help patients with that our need of blood. I know for instance my grandfather was a cancer patient and every week he would need to get his blood drawn and he would need to get blood, burn patients need blood. Every donation can save a life.”
(Althoff) “It helps so many lives and people that get into bad car accidents or get hurt and they need blood but if nobody donates blood than we could lose so many more lives I think it’s a really important thing to do and if you have the time to do that and to donate I think you should.”
The day and morning before your donation are super important, luckily Braeden gave us some tips on how to donate your blood safely and efficiently.
(Althoff) “Hydrate, drink plenty of water, and lots of fluids. Increase your fluids the day before donating. Eat salty snacks increase your salt intake and eat before donating, you want to make sure you get plenty of sleep, eat breakfast eat a well-balanced breakfast the morning before your donation, it will help you be more awake.”
(Ryann Sullivan) “It really doesn’t hurt that bad it’s just a little sting for the first second just make sure you keep it covered don’t look at it, and then just remember you’re doing this to possibly save somebody’s life.”
(Althoff) “I know donating blood is not fun. The nurses do a very good job of talking you through it I know I need to talk to someone when I donate blood. I wouldn’t focus too much on it if you want to focus on anything think about all of the things your blood will be able to do for someone.”
Community Blood Center is taking all of the necessary precautions to protect us against COVID-19 while donating. This also brings up the issue that COVID presents with declining blood donations in such a crucial time.
(Althoff) “Normally, traditionally yes, having it here on campus we get lots of people walking in. We want to make sure we are social distancing and that we’re being safe and that we’re trying to prevent the spread of COVID, but because of that, there’s been far fewer donations we’re in a big shortage of donations and we are going to hit a point where we aren’t going to be able to provide blood to patients who need it dearly.”
Reporting from The Campus Ledger, this has been Paige Winters