SERVICE: Community

——————————————————————————————————————
American Red Cross is well known
for holding many blood drives in
various locations that are easily
accessible to the community.
According to their website, the blood
donations collected are used for
patients in need of surgery, cancer
treatments, and transfusions for
blood loss from traumatic injuries.
They’re used for cancer patients
who need blood transfusions and
can act as a resource to implement
platelets back into the body after
heavy treatments such as
chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
Blood cells are made in the bone
marrow which is often at risk. Lack of blood cell production causes chronic diseases
over time which affects organs like the kidney, spleen, and liver. Therefore, there is a
constant need for blood donations.

My local church, Mandarin Baptist Church

of Los Angeles, has been partnering up
with American Red Cross to hold blood
drives every 3 months for nearly the past
decade. Having a consistent donation
schedule has been effective as the
community can expect when the blood
drives happen and are familiar with the
location. There are regular blood donors
who consistently donate blood each drive.
It is important to get a variety of blood from
different communities as we know that
there is a wide variety of blood and plasma
types.

The process of holding a blood drive can be made easy with

many helping hands. We started off by moving all the chairs
aside to provide enough room for the Red Cross team to set up
their equipments. The chairs were conveniently placed on the
side for donors who end up wanting to lie down and rest longer.
After donors signed in, I assisted in checking their temperatures
to make sure they didn’t have a fever per local COVID
regulations. After donating blood, the patients remain seated and rest for awhile before
they left the facility. During that time, I offer them some snacks and drinks to help them
replenish their energy. I was encouraged to see people of different ethnicities and age
groups come together to put other’s needs first.

When studying the different types of cancers, we learn that patients often undergo
combinations of surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy for their cancer
treatments. These treatments are strenuous on the body and they often need more
blood for various reasons. Due to the amount of cancer and accidents that happen,
there is always a need for blood donations. Donating blood can save lives. It’s a great
opportunity to give back to help out and give back to the community even if one is not
involved directly in healthcare. We may not see the people who receive the blood but it
makes a difference in ways we may not see directly. Someday we or our loved ones
may be the ones in need of this help and having a giving community is essential for
these times of need.

This is similar to being a medical dosimetrist where often times we don’t see the actual
patients whose treatment plan we are working on. There is a person behind each scan
and that they are also someone’s loved one. My hope is to strive for the best care or
treatment plan possible, the same way I would like someone to treatment me or my
friends and family if put in that situation. I believe that having compassionate for others
drives one to provide quality care for those we encounter.