The year's first Leonard Carmichael Society (LCS) blood drive begins today and will continue through Wednesday. Coordinators planned the drive well before Sept. 11, but now say they expect a higher turnout because of an outpouring of support since the terrorist attacks.
LCS blood drive coordinators sent an e-mail to students on Sept. 13, saying that they had contacted the Red Cross to organize an emergency blood drive. At that time, the Red Cross was overwhelmed with requests and told LCS that the demand for blood would be greater in coming weeks.
"The Red Cross told us to keep our blood drive scheduled for around now, because the people in need would still be in need now," said sophomore Dan Keesing, one of the coordinators.
Since eligible donors may only give blood once every eight weeks, the blood supply would have been depleted in following months if most willing donors gave blood immediately following Sept. 11. Most people do not donate regularly, Keesing said, but since consistent donors are now most needed, that trend may change.
"Because of the tragedy, people really are thinking now how important it really is to be [giving blood] consistently," he said.
Junior Devang Dave, who has volunteered at the blood drive for the past two years, said he also expects a higher turnout. "It's been put more in the public spotlight and there's been a lot more education about people donating blood," he said. "I feel like in the past, when the blood drive came around, it was mostly the coordinators and people who volunteered putting out information."
As of last night, 281 students had already registered to donate blood. This year, the Red Cross specified the maximum number of donors they could take each day, saying they could handle 320 donors from Tufts over the three-day period.
"They don't want to take any more than that because they're afraid that they're going to have an excessive supply and then they won't be able to do anything with the blood," Keesing said.
Over 50 LCS volunteers will staff Hodgdon for the first two days and Carmichael for the last. Even so, students who walk in to donate should expect a longer wait. "Right now, we're hoping that the staff can even handle the people who have appointments," Keesing said. "Even those people might have to wait a bit."
The coordinators registered donors through Tuftslife.com for the first time this year to streamline the process. Instead of only tabling, coordinators say the new system gives students a better chance to look over their schedules and find the best time to donate. The online method also allows coordinators to send reminder e-mails the day before students are scheduled to donate.
Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that blood donation levels have risen significantly higher than normal. In the New York metropolitan area, donors can wait for up to eight hours to give blood.
Though the number of donors has leveled off to around 10,000 to 12,000 donors weekly, in the seven days following the attacks, 21,000 people gave blood. In a typical week before the attacks, the New York area took in about 7,000 donors. Since red blood cells are perishable, donated blood can only be stored for one month.
Matthew Alford and Iris Gelbort are co-coordinating the drive with Keesing. LCS holds three blood drives each year, and this year, coordinators hope to add an extra blood drive for faculty and graduate students.
"The way blood drives are run right now is a lot different than in the past, just because of the sudden increase of donors," Keesing said. "Its going to be a new experience for us."
