By Nathan Yan
Wednesday, December 21, 2005 6:09 PM

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Senior Briane Nuval sits and rests while his blood is transferred into a packet. One of the blood packets used to store blood donations. One of the trained phlebotomists from BCP checks up on a donor after the donation is finished. Photos by Nathan Yan

Over 50 Westmoor students and teachers took time to donate their blood this Friday, December 16th, in Westmoor's first blood drive in the past 5 years, organized by members of Westmoor's Leo Club, ASB, and Blood Centers of the Pacific (BCP). In the works for months, and planned by Westmoor social science teacher and Leo's Club advisor Alan Bronstein, along with Asad Allah, High School Education Coordinator for the Blood Centers, the Blood Drive signed up Westmoor students and teachers for donations throughout the preceding weeks. Blood Centers of the Pacific is a San Francisco-based non-profit organization which operates throughout Northern California. The organization manages 13 blood donation centers throughout the region, including the Peninsula site in San Mateo. In addition, Blood Centers of the Pacific also works with local businesses, religious organizations, schools, colleges, and other community groups to organize on-site blood drives, like the one held at Westmoor. BCP has also held similar blood drives at two other JUHSD high schools - Oceana held one in October, raising 36 pints, and Terra Nova, which raised 48 pints in their first blood drive, will hold another in February. Blood Centers of the Pacific distributes more than 130,000 pints of blood to over 50,000 patients annually. The Blood Drive was set up in the small gynasium all day from 8 AM to 2 PM (school had ended early at 1 PM for winter break). Students who had registered beforehand came in throughout the school day, and many others simply walked in and registered on-site. 5 phlebotomists and a trained nurse were on hand to handle all of the donations and prepare the students. After an initial health history screening and physical examination, donors were seated as a phlebotomist went through the process. The area around the vein was scrubbed with alcohol to sterilize and prevent any infection, and then a needle was inserted into the vein. Once the needle was securely in place, the blood was slowly drained into a pint-sized pouch below the donor. Once the pouch was completely filled, the needle was removed, and the donor rested for 10-15 minutes, and then was free to go. The whole process took about 15-20 minutes. Asked how he had felt after giving blood, senior Briane Nuval said, "I feel special, because I know my blood is going to save someone else." 51 students, along with 3 teachers came in to donate blood, and more than a few others were unfortunately deferred for health or eligibility reasons. Each person donated a pint each - the maximum, for health reasons - and Westmoor finished the drive with a total of 54 pints of blood. On the possibility of holding future blood drives at Westmoor, Bronstein was optimistic. "We're thinking of holding one in May, but that remains to be seen." For more information on donating blood, and how you can help, visit the Blood Centers of the Pacific website or one of their many donation sites located throughout the Peninsula and Bay Area. External Links http://bloodcenters.org - Blood Centers of the Pacific Website http://bloodcenters.org/donating/blood.htm - Information on Donating Blood http://bloodcenters.org/donating/centers.htm - Blood Centers of the Pacific locations in Northern California http://bloodcenters.org/highschool/ - Information on the High School Program http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_donation - Wikipedia article on blood donation

The Westmoor News Blog is a weblog which updates on current events and news going on at Westmoor. It is written entirely by students, and thus any and all views, ideas, and witticisms expressed here do not necessarily correlate to those of Westmoor High School or JUHSD. You can submit feedback by emailing us at westmoorgoldenram@yahoo.com

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