Blood drive gives students opportunity to save lives

By Sarah Lazur
Daily Bruin Contributor

Blood drives present opportunities for students to ditch their
fear of needles and perform a lifesaving deed.

The Rieber Hall and Saxon Suites quarterly blood drive will take
place today in the Rieber Hall Fireside Lounge from 2 to 7 p.m.

“I’ve heard that one pint saves four lives,”
said Angela Chan, a second-year pre-cognitive science
student. “It’s an amazing thing to do and
it’s so easy. You just go downstairs and they totally take
care of you. You’re tired for a couple hours, but
that’s nothing; it’s a small price to pay for what
you’re doing for someone else.”

Nurses from the Blood & Platelet Center at the UCLA Medical
Plaza will draw blood from approximately 150 students who signed up
for appointments the past two weeks.

According to Jessica Jung, internal vice president of Rieber and
coordinator of the blood drive, UCLA students provide a more
economical way to keep the Medical Center stocked.

“This is the best way to get blood for the UCLA Medical
Center because if they don’t get enough blood through the
Blood & Platelet Center, they have to buy it from the Red Cross
and it’s more expensive,” Jung
said. “On-campus dorms are a really big resource for
blood.”

The U.S. reached its peak in blood shortage in January 2000.
According to a March 2000 Red Cross poll, 76 percent of Americans
expect blood to be available when they need it. In addition,
72 percent vastly underestimated the demand for blood and only 5
percent of eligible donors actually donate.

Organizers hope the large number of donors will bring the blood
drive closer to accomplishing its goal of drawing 100 pints.

“They actually added extra nurses because Rieber had so
many sign-ups,” Jung said. “I’m hoping that we
can hit at least 100 (donors). With the extra nurses we can
accommodate over 110.”

To qualify for donating blood, students must be at least 17
years old, weigh more than 110 pounds and be in good health ““
which may be a difficult qualification to fill in the winter flu
season. Twenty-four hours prior to drawing blood, donors may
not have cold or flu symptoms, a fever, sore throat or cough.

“During the fall blood drive Rieber Hall had the most
sign-ups but ended up having the least amount of donors because the
entire hall was sick,” Jung said. “People just
dropped like flies which was really disappointing.”

Donors must also answer questions regarding their medical
history, piercing and tattoos, and sexual practice.

“It’s critically important that the questions be
answered honestly to protect the health of the recipient and also
make the blood drive more efficient,” said Ann Brooks, a
nurse at the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center.

Despite common fears of pain and dizziness, the process of
donating blood usually runs smoothly.

“I’ve donated blood in the past and it’s
usually pretty good,” said Sarah Sterlace, a first-year
engineering student. “The process was really smooth and
putting the needle in and taking it out didn’t really
hurt.”