By Asad Khimani
Staff Writer

On Wednesday, March 16, the annual March Red Cross blood drive took place. The drive was very successful and over one hundred people donated blood.

The hard work put in by the Red Cross and the Westford Academy Youth Red Cross Club was what made the blood drive so successful. Many weeks before the blood drive, the WA Youth Red Cross Club, or WAYRC, was already preparing for the blood drive. Signs for the blood drive were approved by the office and then put up around the school, and announcements were aired.

“We’ve had announcements on the morning announcements for two weeks, or maybe actually about a week and a half,” said Julie Pfordresher, chemistry teacher and WAYRC advisor here at WA.

Then, the week right before the blood drive, the members of the WAYRC signed up people who wanted to donate and gave them a time in which they had to come into the blood drive, which was held in the gymnasium, to donate blood. The day before the blood drive, a video was aired on the announcements telling the blood drive participants to keep themselves healthy in various ways before the drive.

At the event, students in WAYRC sat at the reception table and signed people in who were donating blood in their designated time slots at the reception table. In addition, students worked the canteen, which is where donors went to eat a snack after losing much energy due to a blood donation. The WAYRC also signed people out.

“Once they feel like they’re good enough to go back to class, then we’ll send them off, we’ll check them out,” said vice president of the WAYRC, Chris Kawasaki.

The Red Cross organization also spent an immense amount of time to set up and work the blood drive. People working for the Red Cross brought in the beds on which patients lay down while donating, the needles to draw the blood, the pouches to keep the blood in, snacks for the canteen, and coolers in which to keep the containers of blood. Also, Red Cross members sorted the donated blood out based on blood type and placed the containers of blood into coolers so that they could be transported to headquarters in Dedham, MA and then shipped to hospitals.

Also, the organization set up several stations in the gym that served different purposes. A reception table was set up to check the donors in. Then, the donors went to the health history tables so that they could be asked questions about their health so that the Red Cross could determine if they were eligible for the blood drive. Afterward, if qualified, the donors went to the beds where iodine was rubbed on their arms. Then the donors lay down and had a needle placed inside their arm from which a pint of blood was drawn.

Donors could choose between two types of donations, a regular donation, in which a pint of blood is drawn or a double red donation, which is when the blood of the donor is drawn once, the red blood cells are taken out, and the rest of the blood is returned to the donor. Then, this process is repeated again.

“With the double reds, we can get two units of just red blood cells from one donor,” said Red Cross member Mellisa Newcomb.

After the blood was donated, it was given to a table where Red Cross members sorted the blood out based on the blood type and then pack the containers of blood into coolers so that it can then be shipped. The donors went to the canteen table, ate a snack, and then went back to class when revitalized.

People had different reactions after they donated a pint of blood. Sean Allison, a sophomore at WA, said that he felt dizzy at first, but then he got used to it and felt okay. Prayuth Naduthota, a junior at WA and Raunak Mahesh, also a junior, were two other students who donated. Naduthota said that he felt “dizzy and whoozy” after donating. Mahesh said that he felt, “A little bit loopy, but not too bad.”

Some people reacted differently after losing blood. Mackenzie Brewer, a junior, said that she had shivers after donating blood and needed a blanket. She also panicked and felt nauseous. Caty Sheridan, a senior, said that donating gave her a bad headache and made her feel drowsy.

However, all donors agreed that donating blood and giving to a good cause felt good.