EHHS hosts a blood drive each year to help our local hospitals in need of blood. HOSA has just hosted a very successful blood drive a few weeks prior, and they plan to host the next blood drive on April 16, 2025. Ms. Martin, along with the students of HOSA, hosted this blood drive in partnership with Connecticut Blood Center. If you were 16 or older by the time of April 2025, you were able to donate to help local hospitals save lives. All parents, EH community members, and teachers were allowed as walk-ins during the event as well. 

Prior to COVID, The Red Cross had partnered with EHHS to hold a blood drive where they would get around 30 participants and would get under 12 pints of blood. Since the new addition to the Connecticut Blood Center, they have gotten a very large increase in participants. Each pint of blood that gets donated helps save 3 lives, whether the blood is separated into its parts or given to the patient whole. Every donation of blood counts! When seeing if you qualify to donate, you have to look at a few attributes that you may possess. If you are 16 by the time of donating blood you need a permission slip signed beforehand, and need to be over 130 pounds. If you are 17 or older you can get blood drawn without a permission slip and need to be over 110 pounds. These qualifications are due to your blood volume needing to be at a certain level for it to be safe to draw blood. if you have any concerns or questions you can ask a professional to help you conclude. If you know that you have low iron levels it may also be best to refrain from signing up. If you aren’t sure, the team of people will make sure to check your iron levels beforehand. There are also other criteria so make sure to look up the requirements beforehand to make sure you are eligible. 

Getting blood drawn can be very scary in many cases, but Ms. Martin recommends that you watch videos if you are nervous, or even talk to previous blood donors that you know. Any amount of blood you donate is helpful, and even putting thought into it shows your consideration. Ms. Martin says “If you don’t have money, give what you can. your energy, your blood, your hair, whatever you can offer. If you can give a part of yourself to your community, I think that is a very noble thing to do.” Ms. Martin was also asked why she decided to host this blood drive with her HOSA team. She explains how there is always a need for blood no matter how many people donate. This event also helps the students who want to be future health professionals see and act in these sorts of medical environments. If anyone is interested in joining HOSA and participating in and planning events like this, make sure to contact Ms. Martin for more information on how to join. Ms. Martin gives an inside look at what it’s like being a part of the HOSA community. She says “In the middle of the winter we start getting our HOSA members to decide on what kind of marketing they want to do. How we want to get this word out, the date, the times, and encourage new donors.”