The USA is in need of blood!

Some high schools in the United States have days where students can make appointments to donate blood. If you are 16 years old you can donate blood with parental permission, however if you are 17 you can donate without permission. Anyone can donate blood as long as they meet some health, weight, and height requirements

Thankfully, I was able to meet the requirements and donated blood on September 28 of 2022. Mrs. Johnston, who is an english teacher, was able to help me make an appointment to donate my blood. One can sign up online and then just show up at the time you chose to get your blood drawn.

When I first got to the small gym where the blood drive was located, they made me sign in and you must bring some form of ID with you. They make you fill out a health chart where it asks you multiple questions to make sure everything is good. Then they will check your iron levels and blood pressure. If you don’t look like the weight that they need you to be, they will weigh you to ensure that your weight is appropriate and eligible to donate blood.

After they make sure everything is good to go, they make you get a snack, some drinks, and water while you wait to be called up to get your blood drawn.

At some point they will call you up to take a seat and look for your veins. They will sanitize your arm, make you squeeze a ball (to make your vein pop more) , and lastly a needle will be inserted to draw your blood. Somehow that was where one of the staff messed up my experience.

When the needle was inserted in my arm, it hurt pretty bad. I asked the staff if it was supposed to hurt like a lot, to which he replied no and proceeded to take the needle out cause blood was coming out.

They stopped the bleeding and everything was good. I let them try again in my other arm which went super smoothly.

After they make you sit down again and drink water with a snack. They make you wait for another 15 minutes, which I did. I started feeling hazy and just started sweating once I stood up. I ended up throwing up and had to lay on the ground for a few minutes… It was crazy, but the staff said that it’s normal for that to happen since it was my first time donating blood.

For the rest of the day I felt dizzy and lightheaded, with a side of nauseousness. For a week and a half I had bruises on the inner part of my elbow, but I felt better by the next day. I am looking forward to donating blood again!