Lincoln East High School's home of Spartan news

The Oracle

Lincoln East High School's home of Spartan news

The Oracle

Lincoln East High School's home of Spartan news

The Oracle

The Blood Drive

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East High senior, Lily Johnson, getting her blood drawn.

It’s that time of the year again for the 2nd annual blood drive for the Nebraska Community Blood Bank!  Lincoln East senior, Mckenna Volquardsen, has taken the job to be one of the main helpers this semester.

Volquardsen said that all of the 90 spots are filled with volunteers willing to donate their blood for the second time in a row.

Many Spartans, including Volquardsen, donated blood last semester.  There is a certain process that everyone has to go through to get to the goal of giving blood.  First, the workers who take the blood ask the volunteers a series of questions ranging from “Do you have a tattoo?” or “Have you been out of the country recently?”.  Then, the workers prick a finger to check one’s hemoglobin levels.  If a person’s hemoglobin level are too low they are unable to donate blood.  Following that, the workers look at the veins, to find the most promising vein.  Finally, the actual giving blood process begins, as they give juice to the volunteer, elevate their legs, and stick the needle into the vein, squeeze a ball (to make blood pump faster out of the vein), and draw one unit of blood.  One has 10-12 units of blood, depending on the person’s weight.

After the courageous process of giving blood, the volunteer will receive the choice of choosing a snack or two from either cookies, pretzels, or goldfish.

Volquardsen said she received a thank you from the NE Community Blood Bank in the mail a couple of weeks after she donated.  The thank you letter also told her what type of blood she has, which she thought was very cool.

“You never know when someone will need blood in the future, so I think it is really cool when people donate blood, because you don’t know when it will affect you.”, Volquardsen said.
There is another blood drive, put on by the NE Community Blood Bank, in March, so go give blood if you’ve always wanted to!