NEMCC Phi Theta Kappa answers nation's call with January blood drive

by Michael H. Miller

BOONEVILLE, Miss. -- (01/25/2024) — Northeast Mississippi Community College's Iota Zeta chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society is stepping up to answer the nation's call with the first of its tri-annual blood drives at the college.

Northeast's Phi Theta Kappa has scheduled the first of three blood drives for 2024 for Tuesday, January 30 and Wednesday, January 31 in the Claude Wright Room on the second floor of the Haney Union in Booneville from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. each day.

Northeast's blood drive comes at a crucial time as the American Red Cross has announced that it is experiencing the lowest number of blood donors in 20 years and with the winter months being one of the high times for blood needs, the Northeast blood drive has answered the call.

Mississippi blood banks saw the wrath of the winter months being one of the high times for blood needs in the previous few weeks as Mother Nature dropped not only snow on the region but ice as well and put a halt to blood drives for almost 10 days.

Red Cross organizers say that there has been a significant drop in donations during the global coronavirus pandemic and the national organization has seen a 10-percent overall blood donation decline since the pandemic started in March 2020 but high school and college blood drives have been hit the hardest with a 62-percent drop in blood drives on educational campuses, according to the American Red Cross.

While donations and blood drives have dropped at educational institutions, Northeast's Phi Theta Kappa's tri-annual blood drives have been filled with donors.

In September, Northeast captured the 2023 Out for Blood drive trophy, which was presented before the Northeast-Itawamba football game on Thursday, September 21 as the Prentiss County based school was able to raise 61 units of blood.

Northeast raised 61 units of blood while Itawamba was just a few donations behind the Tigers with 53 units of its own.

In total, the two schools were able to help Vitalant collect 114 units of blood for the local blood bank and those 114 units were able to aid 342 patients at north Mississippi hospitals.

After Northeast and Itawamba Community College battled in the "Out for Blood" blood drive in the fall, the Northeast Iota Zeta chapter is stepping to the plate to help those in need again, just four months later.

For those wishing to make an appointment to give during the Northeast Iota Zeta chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society's blood drive, visit donors.vitalant.org and enter in the Blood Drive Code "NEMCC."

According to organizers, every two (2) seconds, a person in the United States needs blood and/or platelets and approximately 29,000 units of red blood cells are needed every day in the United States. When a person donates a unit of blood, the blood can be separated into donatable parts such as red blood cells, platelets and plasmas. This helps medical personnel stretch the donations to help the most amount of people.

An average donation is about one unit of blood - roughly one pint, and the average red blood cell transfusion is approximately three units. Organizers have pointed out that a single automobile accident victim can require up to as many as 100 units of blood before their ordeal is over.

Red blood cells are used in medical situations such as surgeries while platelets may go to someone undergoing chemotherapy for a cancer treatment while plasma is applied to those with serious burns or with severe blood loss.

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