The official student news site of Athens Drive High School

ATHENS ORACLE

The official student news site of Athens Drive High School

ATHENS ORACLE

The official student news site of Athens Drive High School

ATHENS ORACLE

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Health Science Academy sponsors bi-annual blood drive

The second blood drive of the school year at Athens Drive High School, sponsered by Rex Healthcare, will take place April 14 to help save local lives in North Carolina in hospitals with patients in need of blood donors. It is an opportunity for students to donate and participate in a cause.

Health Science Academy (HSA) instructor, Jennifer Hulsey is directing her second blood drive at Athens Drive this school year. The last blood drive at Athens Oct. 29 resulted in 93 students who signed up to donate, ending the drive with 84 pints of blood from 97 participants. The goal this time is to get past 100 donors to maximize the benefit of the event. Blood type O negative has been shown to universal red cell donor and blood type AB is the universal plasma donor.  For every one pint of blood about three lives are saved. Students sign-up for the blood drive this semester will start giving blood this month.

“Last semester’s blood drive was organized so well, so we are expecting the same to happen this time around,” said Hulsey.

There are requirements to be an eligible blood donor. You must be 17 years of age or older, not underweight, ill, or anemic (low iron levels). These requirements are important to be met to insure the safety of all the donors. These aspects also make donating available to most juniors and seniors at Athens Drive.

“Last semester’s was really well run, and working it is really fun and it’s one of my favorite event at Athens,” said former vice president of the Athens HSA, Tyler Parker.

The HSA would like to increase their numbers and have numerous ideas to bring in more donors. More students are predicted to participate if they are more comfortable with the process. A conflict last semester was that the drive took place at lunch time and eligible students like to go off campus, which ended up interfering with the amount of people who participated in the drive.

“We are trying to get more donors for sure and plan to offer almost like a prize to make students feel more comfortable throughout the process,” said Hulsey.

Blood drive workers state that it is extremely important to be well hydrated and nourished the day of your donation, the HSA plans to use this to their advantage to add numbers to the donors list. These plans include providing food and refreshments to make this blood drive even more successful compared to the already successful previous blood drive last semester. This will also make the process more fun and easy for the participants.

“We are thinking of providing pizza and snacks for the students to bring in more donors, because it is a good idea to eat before giving blood too.” said Hulsey.

     Multiple students at Athens drive are involved in the HSA to further educate themselves in the medical sciences. This program gives them a headstart in the medical field. Students such as Tyler Parker and Dina Alinaghian (members of HSA) mention this.

“It is interesting to see how people donate and everyone should donate, the idea is to gain one, give one, to receive more donors,” Alinaghian.

Athens HSA encourages as many students to donate as possible to the blood drive and help save as many lives as they can. To participate, just talk to an HSA member or Hulsey to arrange a convenient time.

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