Student drive aims to bank more minority blood types
Pablo Albilal / Correspondent
Issue date: 2/19/08 Section: University
Gregory Zegarek, an East Brunswick High School senior, sat at a table with other blood donors, a green bandage wrapped around his right arm while he drank Juicy Juice.
"I have given blood before, and I got an e-mail saying there was a shortage of my blood type, A positive," he said. "One nurse does your vitals and checks for iron content and body temperature. It's a good feeling doing this sort of thing."
New Jersey Blood Services came to the Multipurpose Room of the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus at around 10:30 a.m. yesterday and set up shop for a blood drive sponsored by the Douglass Black Students Congress.
Students lay in reclined seats and gave a little over a pint of their blood to help benefit people in dire need of blood transfusions.
The entire process sometimes took up to 45 minutes, yet there were plenty of free snacks and juices for donors afterward.
"We are giving T-shirts, and if you are a first-time donor, you get a pin," said DBSC treasurer Ashley C. Sawyer, a Douglass College sophomore. "But the intended motivation is of course to save lives."
New Jersey Blood Services facilitated the blood work, donor specialists took pints of blood from each donor, then four extra vials were taken as samples for various laboratory tests, including blood type, HIV and Hepatitis tests.
"Blood is broken down into three components: white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets, as well as plasma, which people may need as well," said Jared Tamasco, a University Class of 2004 graduate who works with New Jersey Blood services.
Tamasco said blood donations are greatly needed.
"There are times when a person needs 60 pints in a transfusion … if each donor is giving a pint, but some of these patients need 30 to 60 pints, that's a lot of blood," Tomasco said.
By the end of the blood drive, more than 50 blood donors had participated.
"My organization decided to have the drive because we have a child from the Adopt-A-Family program: Noely Martinez who is 3 years old and has sickle cell anemia," said DBSC Community Service chair, Imani Davis, a Douglass College junior. "It is Black History Month, and Sickle Cell Anemia is one of the most prevalent blood-related illnesses in the black community."
There is a large demand for black and Latino blood donors within the community, Tamasco said.
"Donors from those groups have blood which is called a 'precise match,'" he said. "Blood from those groups is more beneficial for people with those kinds of diseases."
"I have given blood before, and I got an e-mail saying there was a shortage of my blood type, A positive," he said. "One nurse does your vitals and checks for iron content and body temperature. It's a good feeling doing this sort of thing."
New Jersey Blood Services came to the Multipurpose Room of the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus at around 10:30 a.m. yesterday and set up shop for a blood drive sponsored by the Douglass Black Students Congress.
Students lay in reclined seats and gave a little over a pint of their blood to help benefit people in dire need of blood transfusions.
The entire process sometimes took up to 45 minutes, yet there were plenty of free snacks and juices for donors afterward.
"We are giving T-shirts, and if you are a first-time donor, you get a pin," said DBSC treasurer Ashley C. Sawyer, a Douglass College sophomore. "But the intended motivation is of course to save lives."
New Jersey Blood Services facilitated the blood work, donor specialists took pints of blood from each donor, then four extra vials were taken as samples for various laboratory tests, including blood type, HIV and Hepatitis tests.
"Blood is broken down into three components: white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets, as well as plasma, which people may need as well," said Jared Tamasco, a University Class of 2004 graduate who works with New Jersey Blood services.
Tamasco said blood donations are greatly needed.
"There are times when a person needs 60 pints in a transfusion … if each donor is giving a pint, but some of these patients need 30 to 60 pints, that's a lot of blood," Tomasco said.
By the end of the blood drive, more than 50 blood donors had participated.
"My organization decided to have the drive because we have a child from the Adopt-A-Family program: Noely Martinez who is 3 years old and has sickle cell anemia," said DBSC Community Service chair, Imani Davis, a Douglass College junior. "It is Black History Month, and Sickle Cell Anemia is one of the most prevalent blood-related illnesses in the black community."
There is a large demand for black and Latino blood donors within the community, Tamasco said.
"Donors from those groups have blood which is called a 'precise match,'" he said. "Blood from those groups is more beneficial for people with those kinds of diseases."