On Oct. 22nd, the American Red Cross Blood Services and the NHS came together and held a blood drive at  high school. Students who were 16 and 17 years old with parent’s permission could participate along with any community members who wanted to donate. 

Michelle Ott and 8 of the NHS students volunteered each hour and did small jobs. One job was to work the registration table which organized the process of checking in the donors. Another was to show the donors to the refreshment table where they could go to after donating and get some fluids and sugars back into their system. Runners was the last job and they went to classes to find students that signed up for donations. 

Before donating blood, donors had to go to a small booth used for “histories” which was set up along the bleachers and get their vitals checked such as their iron level, temperature, blood pressure and their pulse. They also had to answer questions to determine if the person was eligible for donating. The booth also had “privacy walls” so the donor feels comfortable sharing personal information with the nurse doing the lab work. 

The blood drive was a success. They had 72 people attempt to donate and collected a total of 55 units of viable blood when the goal was 51.