The Associated Student Body and Stanford Blood Center are hosting their annual spring blood drive in the small gym at Mountain View High School on March 31.
ASB member Sam Mozer is managing the event this season. Her planning revolves around making sure that eligible donors sign up ahead of time as well as compiling the signups. Getting donors to sign up on the website is time-consuming work.
Due to the large gap of wealth, “people don’t always have the resources to donate money…or other things that a lot of collections and drives do,” Mozer said.
One donor can save about four lives as well as make a difference in their own community.
“With a blood drive, anyone of age and health that meets the requirement despite their economic background is able to donate and really make an impact,” Mozer said.
Most of the nurses from Stanford Hospital come and set up their equipment while ASB members oversee the event. There are multiple jobs ASB members are assigned to, such as greeters that help nurses, runners who get people from their classes, and helpers who work in the canteen after donors are done.
Donors first have to sign up through any ASB member or online, then are tested to make sure their blood is usable. After donors are finished, they are sent to the canteen area for at least 15 minutes of rest until they feel well enough to continue with their day.
Students who wish to donate must be at least sixteen with a consent form filled out, unless they are seventeen and older. There are multiple weight requirements in place to help eliminate side effects, such as fainting. There are also restrictions on who donates based on where they have traveled in the past. To specify more about these restrictions, contact Sam Mozer.
Last year, 150 donors showed up, and each donor collects about 170 units of blood.
After testing to ensure the patients can use the blood, it is given to Stanford Hospital.
“They predict that majority of the blood will be used by Friday, which is why it’s important to do these drives because they do rely on it,” Mozer said.