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West Orange High School Blood Drive Hits New High for Donations

WEST ORANGE, NJ - The Third Annual West Orange High School Blood Drive on April 12 was a huge success, collecting 82 pints of blood for Community Blood Services (Vitalant) of New Jersey.

 

"We had 91 people register and collected a total of 82 units," said drive organizer, PE teacher Ozzie Diaz.

 

"We had to turn away over 10 students due to the fact that they would have missed their late bus had they stayed. If we had been able to accommodate them, we would have collected over 90 pints," he continued. 

 

Also present to observe and learn from the drive were students in Catherine Connors' Dynamics of Healthcare in Society class. The course teaches orientation and clinical exposure to healthcare services and their delivery, presenting an interdisciplinary perspective and focusing on process skills such as critical thinking, ethical reasoning, effective communication and ways to continue independent learning throughout life. The professional competencies stressed apply to general issues and topics common to all health care providers. (Upon successful completion of the course, students receive one college credit from Rutgers University.)

 

Donors can donate whole blood every 54 days. Blood and blood products  donated by the donors save the lives of trauma victims, patients with blood disorders, cancer and many other life- threatening injuries and illnesses in area hospitals. Double Red donations are similar to a whole blood donation, except a special machine is used to allow donors to safely donate two units of red blood cells during one donation while returning plasma and platelets to the donor. Double red donors can donate again after 112 days.

 

"It was a great day," concluded Diaz.

 

To donate blood, visit the Community Blood Services website here.

 

See all the photos from the blood drive here.

 

WOHS Blood Drive

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cynthia Cumming
April 23, 2019