RN Monic Dyke was the point of contact for the One Blood drive for Madison County High School and for the entire Madison County School District. The majority of the donator were the high school students with teachers, district personnel, and some parents showed up to donate blood. All students participating in the blood ages 16 and 17 had to have a parents consent to have blood drawn and were required to the Ferritin test, which the test tell about how much iron is in the blood, if too low students would not be able to donate blood.
Students participating had different reactions to the blood drive, Joycelynn Ford stated, “It was a good experience knowing I could save three people,” but was devastated since she was not able to donate due to the iron-level in her blood low. Brittany Hasty was a first-time donator to giving blood and was accompany by her younger sister Jessica for support. I observed her during the process from registering in to blood pressure check and to the Ferritin test. After a 30 minutes later, I saw her at the register tent stand afterwards resting. “I was upset,” Hasty stated, “since I couldn’t give blood because during the process they lost my vein and would not stick her again with the needle to draw blood. I will definitely try it again.”
Another first-time donator Aaron Cooper, “It was very professional done, clean, and attendant explained step-by-step on what they were doing. I was hesitant and nervous about donating blood, and was surprised that it didn’t hurt that much, even though I was heavily bandaged.
The blood drive was a success due to the scheduling of RN Dyke coordinated efforts in reaching over 75 pints of blood that will be for use within Madison County. We thank the One Blood for helping us help our community: D Thomas, R. Pollock, G, Simmon, J. Johnson, R Veney, M. McCants, S. Jones, S. Pope, S. George, and Account Representative Diane Averett. RN Dyke teaches Allied Health and is a member of the Career and Technical Education Department.
Mike Radel