OPINION: Students should consider donating blood

Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood to save their life. Organizations like Red Cross, America's Blood Center, United Blood Services and the Armed Services Blood Program depend on blood donors to save lives. One important demographic that these organizations rely on is students, and students should make an active effort to donate their blood, especially as there are donation events being held on the Brickyard Monday and Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. this week.

The benefits of donating blood far outweigh the temporary discomfort that it can bring. One single blood donation can save up to three lives. Getting blood drawn, including the paperwork and preparation typically takes about one hour and 15 minutes. The actual donation only takes about eight minutes. What are a few minutes of discomfort if it grants someone their entire life?

The pool of blood donation recipients is large and diverse. Cancer patients, burn victims, organ donation recipients, trauma victims and people suffering from sickle cell disease all need blood. Blood recipients can be from any age and race. Donating blood helps people from all backgrounds.

There are four major blood type groups that are determined by the presence or absence of two antigens. The four common groupings are A, B, O and AB. The most needed blood is the most rare — type O blood. This is because type O-negative is a universal donor, meaning anyone can receive it without an adverse immune response. Still, all blood types are valuable donors, because recipients all need a specific type of blood to have a healthy blood transfusion.

Besides the prospect of potential pain, a primary reason that students do not donate is the lack of time. Many college students have busy schedules. With classes, extracurricular activities, studying and recreational time, the time commitment of donating often prevents students from participating in these blood drives.

To help with this, blood donation organizations could consider visiting universities on the weekend, when students don’t have classes and are more likely to donate their time. However, most students can find a free hour in their schedules to go donate blood, which is decidedly an hour well-spent.

Not everyone can donate blood. In fact, only 38 percent of the population is eligible to donate blood or platelets. This makes it all the more important that those that can donate blood, do. If the only thing stopping you from donating is the slight fear of pain, then just try donating. If it is too much, you can always stop, but you never know if you don’t try.

There are more benefits to donating blood than the physical benefit of saving lives. Donating blood has emotional benefits as well. According to the Mental Health Foundation, helping others can improve your emotional well-being, reduce stress and increase a sense of community. Donating blood can even reduce the risk of heart disease and heart attack because it reduces the blood’s viscosity.

Donating blood is a selfless act that benefits everyone involved. The potential discomfort is nothing compared to the effect it has on individual lives and the world. Organizations depend on volunteers to save lives. Students need to consider donating blood and doing their part in helping others.