Pinole Valley hosted its annual blood drive for the American Red Cross. We got 40 donors and 40 pints of blood. The blood drive took place in the blue and gold room. The blood goes to several hospitals and helps people in need of healthy blood.

Every donor must 16 years old with a parents consent, or 17 and up without a parents permission. To donate blood and they must eat before and after. They also have to do a mini-physical check their blood pressure and the amount of iron in their blood. If they pass they are ready to donate blood, they can either lay or sit on the bed.

When we went in, the techs were everywhere: taking blood, caring for the light-headed donors, taking blood samples, giving out snacks, etc. There were five techs in total. There were matching barcodes for each pint of blood. The process of donating takes about 10 minutes and a maximum amount of 20 minutes. If the patient feels woozy and light-headed they must remain in the medical room until they’ve recovered. After the process is completed the donor receives a T-shirt, a sticker, plus a snack.

When we walked in the medical room, it had a strong smell of chemicals and rubbing alcohol. There where many laying either laying down or eating snacks at the table. The tech are walking around the room or talking with there donor. There were also small tables with dividers and in those where donors getting there blood test. Most of the donors were laying down and some of them had stress balls in their hands. The beds were formed in a small circle in the of the room while the blood test station stood on the right of the beds.

There were a couple of people in charge. One, Janaye Pope was the kind lady that showed us around and walked us through the process of the blood drive. Overall the blood drive was a huge success, and we would like to thank the Spartans, health academy, and the American Red Cross for helping save lives!