HOSA ran its last blood drive for the semester on Wednesday with 71 people donating blood in the midst of a nationwide blood shortage.
“[I hope the blood drive helps] tremendously,” HOSA blood drive chair and senior Bryson Bailey said. “I’m really hoping that we can get enough blood to help make it through the holiday season.”
High school students contribute 30-40% of the blood donated nationwide each year.
“They rely heavily on the donations just to keep that supply and demand met, basically,” health science teacher Dr. Kevin Caizley said. “So it hasn’t even affected us directly, but I guess indirectly it did, because the onus is on the high school students to continue Houston donation duties.”
The Houston area needs approximately 1,000 donations a day to meet the need. Each donation helps three people. The American Red Cross declared a blood shortage in September, citing the blood supply dropped 25% since August.
“[I think it’s important to donate because] you could be saving someone’s life just by giving an hour of your time, and at this age it’s just an incredible opportunity for us,” junior Olivia Licona said.
The blood donated through HOSA’s blood drive goes directly to the local community. Blood donated has to be used within five days of donating, and the amount of blood donations available dictates when people can have surgeries.
“It’s an immediate, direct effect we have in the community, which is great,” Caizley said.
HOSA organizes four blood drives each year, with the Gulf Coast Blood Center collecting the blood at the end of the day.
“I thought [donating] would be very difficult, but it was very easy,” Licona said. “I felt very safe the whole time, and the nurses were very nice, and you had the opportunity to get lots of snacks. It was great.”
On Wednesday, 80 units of blood were donated, impacting 240 lives.
“It makes me feel like I’m part of saving people’s lives,” Bailey said. “I might not be the one drawing the blood or donating — I do donate blood too — but even when I’m just working, knowing that I’m helping organize all of this, it helps me feel better about the people that need blood.”
