2008 Woodie Awards
Blood drive tradition strong, turnout not
Joel Nisleit
Issue date: 4/24/03 Section: News
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 Adam Liebenthal tries to relax as Evonne Berton, registered nurse, inserts the needle. The entire blood- drawing process takes several minutes. |
Lienke said donor turnout "has been going down hill since plasma. People aren't as anxious to do it." Plasma donors get paid, while blood donors don't, though they did get stickers, juice, and cookies.
"We're always looking for new donors and people to come in and help out," Lienke said. Anyone can come and give volunteer service for the event, not just members of the fraternity, he said.
Brian Collins, senior, told why he donates blood, "I guess it's a good thing. It makes me feel good that some other people get help. It doesn't hurt."
This was Lienke's first year in charge of the event. The Zeta Chi fraternity has held blood drives in cooperation with the Red Cross for over 20 years.
Walk-ins are welcomed at the blood drive. All potential donors must fill out a record with a unique number on it used for tracking blood units from that donor. A test to determine eligibility is always given. In this drive, 10 donors were turned down for different reasons, like low iron or something in family history, according to Lienke.
After blood is drawn, the units (about a pint each) are stored in a cooler for transportation to the Red Cross lab, where they're separated into plasma and red cells. There are other ways to separate blood, but blood collected in this drive was separated into plasma and red cells. Later, units are used in hospitals as needed.