High school students in California donate approximately 7,400 pints of blood per year, which can save up to 21,000 lives. Saving lives is what donating blood is all about and that is why Rocklin High School’s CSF club tries to host three blood drives per year.

CSF runs the blood drives through an organization called BloodSource. The officers and the members take care of sign-ups, setting up the drive and cleaning up afterwards, as well as helping hand out the snacks, explained Teri Ellenburg, CSF Advisor at RHS.

The sign-ups are held during lunches for about a week before the blood drive. Students need to be at least 16 years old and weigh at least 110 pounds. Additionally, parental consent is required for minors to donate blood.

According to Sara Randazzo, who organized the last eight blood drives at RHS, usually about 120 people sign-up to donate blood, but the drive only collects about 100 pints of blood.

The most recent drive, on May 17, collected 74 pints of blood, meaning that only 74 out of the 80 signed-up went in. Additionally, Shannon Posnick, CSF Officer who organized the blood drive, reported that about three teachers walked in to give blood.

A person can donate blood about every eight weeks, according BloodSource, the organization that conducts the drive. At each donation, only a pint of blood is taken and it takes 24 hours for the body to replenish what it has lost.

There are certain circumstances under which a person cannot donate blood. Most of the circumstances are only temporary; a woman cannot donate blood during pregnancy, and donors must be symptom free from any viral infection for at least 48 hours before giving blood. Some of the circumstances, such as having AIDS or if a person contracted Hepatitis or Yellow Jaundice after the age of 10, will permanently remove a person from eligibility.

The blood donated to BloodSource is distributed to 40 hospitals throughout northern California. In order to collect enough blood per year, the organization must collect 700 pints of blood per day.

After the blood is taken, it is separated into four separate components: red blood cells, plasma, platelets, and cryoprecipatitated AHF. Each component has a different use: whole blood is used for open heart surgery; red blood cells are used for anemia and surgery; platelets are used for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy; plasma is used for massive transfusions; and cryoprecipitate is used for hemophilia.

Each component has a different expiration date, too. Platelets have to be used within 5 days of donation, according to the Red Cross. Red blood cells keep a refrigeration life of 42 days. Red blood cells can be frozen for up to ten years, but the process is very expensive. Plasma can be frozen for up one year.

This shows how one pint of blood can help to save up to three lives. Sara Randazzo states, “It’s only a half an hour of life and little of pain, but it can save three lives.”