Ashley Hunter
ECB Publishing, Inc.
On Tuesday, May 14, Jefferson Somerset will be hosting a blood drive from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
While staff and students are invited to come and participate, but the school also extends an invitation to the community, asking them to consider coming down to the school on May 14 if they would like to help donate blood and save lives.
All donors will receive a OneBlood t-shirt, a wellness checkup which will include blood pressure, temperature, iron count, pulse and cholesterol screening.
For students, they must all be 16 years or older in order to donate; 16-year-olds must obtain and turn in a complete parent/guardian permission form prior to the day of the blood drive.
All donors (students, staff and community members) are asked to eat a full meal before donating and bring a picture ID.
OneBlood staff recommends that potential donors eat a normal breakfast or lunch, and stay away from fatty foods like burgers or fries when planning their pre-donating meal.
The process of donating blood starts before donors walk through the door of the blood bus, so be sure to drink plenty of water, milk or other liquids before and after donating.
Before donating, donors will be expected to answer some questions about their medical history and have their temperature, pulse, blood pressure and blood count checked.
The medical history questioning session helps the blood bank staff decide if a person is healthy enough to donate blood. They'll probably ask about any recent travel, infections, medicines and health problems.
The actual donation takes about 10 minutes, but after the blood draw process is done, donors will want to sit and rest for a few minutes, drink lots of fluids and take it easy the rest of the day (no hard workouts!).
Appointments can be made in advance by going online at oneblood.org and using sponsor code #18395.