Sunday night the phone rang. ""Hi, I'm calling from the American Red Cross,"" the woman on the phone proclaimed. ""Our records show that you have not donated blood in a while. If you would like, I could set up an appointment for you.""
""Oh, well yeah, I will have to think about it,"" I responded politely even though I had no intention of donating blood within the next week. Yet, after I hung up the phone, I thought to myself, ""Why not? Is one hour out of my week really that big of a deal?""
Whether it is a fear of hospitals and doctors, the thought of having a needle in an arm, or the sight of blood, many students are often apprehensive about donating blood. Fear of donating blood is the epitome of what happens when a person overthinks a situation, as blood donation is completely safe.
The horror stories of a friend that passed out or was bruised after donating blood tend to stick in a person's mind. However, such scenarios are rare. The real horror story is a scenario in which a patient in desperate need of blood dies because of an insufficient blood supply within the hospital, something that is a distinct possibility if the current blood donor group dwindles further.
Blood components have a short shelf life, with red blood cells only lasting six weeks. People can donate blood every eight weeks and, when collections are at 100 percent of the planned nationwide level, there is only a one-week supply in the nation's blood banks. So there really is not a large emergency supply. In fact, there could be a shortage of some blood components if only 95 percent of the planned blood collection is met.
Tesha, the American Red Cross nurse who drew my blood, believes more people do not donate because they ""probably don't know enough about it, that they save three lives with one donation.""
She also noted the vast array of options available to students because of the presence of the American Red Cross on campus. ""We go to every single dorm,"" she said. ""We have a fixed site at Union South.""
""The UW campus is one of the top campuses in the nation to donate blood,"" she added, something she contributed to the generosity of Midwest citizens and the size of the university. She continued by saying they would still like to see more donations but is realistic and generally pleased if they can get students to donate twice per year.
The UW Homecoming blood drive starts today and will continue tomorrow in the Red Gym. The goal is to reach 200 donors, yet on a campus of more than 40,000 students, it would be nice to see that goal exceeded. Students can sign up to donate at that blood drive or any other blood drive at www.givelife.org.
One person's blood donation will save three lives and, if everyone in this campus donated blood once per year, that's 40,000 pints of blood and 120,000 lives saved.
In extreme cases, some patients require ten pints of blood, while in less severe situations a patient may require only plasma to save his life. Nevertheless, every two seconds someone in the United States needs blood. Yet, in a given year, only 5 percent of the eligible population does so.
Instead of spending one hour attending a war protest on the steps of the Capitol, why not spend it donating blood; something that would make a difference and directly save lives. A city and campus that pride themselves on their righteousness have no legitimate reason not to.
