About 50 Columbus School volunteers gathered in an act of solidarity to donate blood in the campaign sponsored by Clinica Las Americas on Friday, April 28.

Clinica Las Americas came from 8 am to 3 pm and over 100 people from the school voluntarily offered to donate. By the end of the day over 25 liters of blood were collected.

“People who were interested in donating needed to fill a survey, the survey asked some basic information and medical information and after the individuals were put through some medical exams which measured the levels of hemoglobin and iron. After the survey and the exams, the individual was categorized as a possible donor,” Carlos Mario Correa, Chief of the campaign, said.

Depending on the donor, it took between 20-30 minutes from start to finish. Due to the blood removed from their system, some donors felt sick, which made the process of blood extraction slower.

“While I was donating I started to feel really dizzy, they gave me something to eat and drink so that we could finish the process of donation,” Ricardo Angel, 12th grader and donor said.

Donors expressed satisfaction and fulfillment since per donor, three lives can be saved with each donation. Even though each donor was only giving ½ liter of their blood, the gratification was great.  

“The ration was 1:3, when one individual donates, three lives are saved. This felt incredible, even though I do not know who is receiving my blood, I know it is helping, “ Mateo Gomez, 12th grader and donor, said.

While over 50 volunteers donated blood, many more wanted to give but were unable to. Before giving blood, a volunteer is screened to make sure their blood contains at least a level 14 of iron and no deficit in hemoglobin.

“I felt awful after they told me I could not donate due to my low iron levels. It’s a prerequisite to have iron levels in about 14 and I had them in 12.8,” Mariana Meza, 12th grader, said.

Blood needs to be in a perfect state, making the prerequisites much more strict and permitting fewer people to be possible donors. The most common unfulfilled prerequisites are weight and age.

“Women need to weigh more than 51 kg, men more than 53 kg, needs to be 18 years or older, no diseases, no sickness, no pregnancy, no tattoos or piercings in the last 6 months, women can donate 3 times per year and men 4 times,” Correa said.

After the process of donation, the body is dehydrated due to the loss of blood. Donors were given juice and cookies to help them recover their strength. 

“The donors should drink a lot of water and can’t do any physical activity for the rest of the day, no alcohol nor smoking, “ Correa stated.

Although only half of the volunteers were able to donate Clinica Las Americas was more than grateful. They were surprised about the amount of people committed to the cause, they did not expect this from the TCS community.

“We are really happy about the fact that so many people wanted to help, it was surprising the number of people who came by to say they wanted to donate,” Correa said.