Deborah Heitter, a nurse with the Lane Memorial Blood Bank, routinely asked freshman Eric Griffith what he had for breakfast while she smeared a yellowish-brown liquid on his forearm with a large cotton swab on Tuesday. She said the substance is iodine, used to kill the germs on Griffith’s arm before she inserts a needle into his skin.
Griffith calmly listed off his breakfast of sausage, eggs, a bagel, peach and blueberry crepes, and orange juice. He seemed unfazed by the long tube connected to his forearm that methodically pumped his blood.
“Is my arm supposed to be feeling weak?” he asked after several minutes.
Heitter confirmed that the weak feeling was normal.
Griffith is one of many community members who have donated blood since the Sept. 11 tragedy, LMBB community relations representative Christine Stockdale said.
At a time when the nation is pulling together after the tragedy, the blood drive offers students, faculty and community members an opportunity to “do their part” in keeping the blood supply at capacity, she said.
“Donating blood is something people can do. It doesn’t cost much, and it’s saving lives,” she said.
Students can give blood today in the EMU Fir Room from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Griffith said this is his first time giving blood. He came to the Fir Room on Tuesday morning for the LMBB’s annual fall blood drive in order to donate his blood and help someone else out.
“I don’t have any money to donate, so I decided to donate my blood,” he said.
Tuesday was also Sandra Klemm’s first time donating blood. The doctoral student in piano performance said she had always wanted to donate but hadn’t until now.
“Our current situation (since Sept. 11) gave me a push,” she said.
Tuesday’s turnout was much lower than Stockdale had expected, which she said was surprising. She expects more participants today. Stockdale said that the LLMB doesn’t have an urgent need for blood at the moment, but every blood bank is concerned with maintaining an adequate blood supply for future needs.
“Even though the hospitals in New York and Washington, D.C., have sufficient blood on hand to treat victims of the attack, we need to remind people that each day more than 12,000 Americans face their own illness or injury requiring blood transfusions,” she said.
Heitter encourages students to donate, she said, because a younger generation of donors are needed to replace many of the regular donors, who are getting older.
According to a LMBB statistic, she said that 2 to 3 percent of the nation’s population provide blood for the entire nation.
Stockdale said a fear of needles keeps some people from giving blood. Others just don’t think about it and are not aware of the need for blood, she said.
“It isn’t until a family member or friend needs blood that people realize the importance and start donating,” she said.
Stockdale added that participants should be in good health, over 17 years old, and weigh at least 110 pounds to donate.
She said students wanting to donate must wait a year after getting a tattoo or piercing and also emphasized the importance of eating a good meal with protein and carbohydrates 2 to 4 hours before donating.
“Today we had to turn away a lot of students who hadn’t had a good meal,” she said.
LMBB is a non-profit organization that provides blood and blood components to Sacred Heart Medical Center, McKenzie-Willamette Hospital, Cottage Grove Hospital and Peace Harbor Hospital in Florence. Students who have more questions about donating blood can contact LMBB at 484-9111.