Student donors get turned away at blood drive

PHOTO: Red Cross Club members left class on Tuesday to sign in student blood donors.

By Iris Harshaw,

BlueDevilHUB.com Editor–

Forty-one pints of blood were collected at the first of two annual blood drives hosted this week by Red Cross Club. At 7:10 a.m., a blood bank bus pulled into the parking lot behind the All Student Center, and stayed until sixth period on Oct. 8.

“Even though we’re such a small school and we can’t do much, at least our blood drives can help people,” club president Janine Tsai said.

The blood service provider that hosted the Davis High blood drive was Vitalant. According to their website, each blood donation can save up to three lives, but only 10 percent of the eligible population donates blood.

“I wanted to save lives,” junior Gabrielle Marquez said.

Marquez was one of 80 DHS students who signed up to donate blood this year, but only 40 ended up actually donating. Many students were turned away for various medical reasons that affect their ability to give blood. 

Although no official numbers were available, Tsai estimated that nearly 50 percent of the DHS students who registered to give blood last year were turned away as well.

Senior Eliot Liederman was one student who wanted to give blood this year, but was turned away because he had a runny nose, which is a flu symptom. 

“It was a bit annoying,” Liederman said.

Liederman and the other donors had to wait up to an hour and a half to complete the process.

“I think it was a bit longer this year […] because more people signed up,” junior Eithne Arsuaga-Vasquez said.

Sitting under a white tent, many of the student donors were bickering over who had arrived first, wishing to return to class. Others, however, were content to wait.

“It’s not like I had anything better to do,” Liederman said.

Liederman pledged to return next semester and try again, hopefully without a runny nose.