REMS blood drive rallies community
Rice Emergency Medical Services hosted a blood drive in collaboration with the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center April 1. Elizabeth Pan, the community outreach lieutenant for REMS, said this semester’s event had around 160 sign-ups and collected 141 units of blood.
Ariah Richards, a McMurtry College senior, said she came to the blood drive to donate because she knows how essential blood is as a pre-med student.
“It’s really a vital resource, and it’s something that only people can give,” Richards said. “So, [I came] just to help save people.”
Each blood donation can save up to three lives, according to the GCRBC. Pan said the drives, which happen about twice a year, are a way for REMS to give back to the community.
“I’ve been doing this for three years now, and every time, it’s really rewarding seeing so many people come together to plan this huge effort,” said Pan, a Sid Richardson College senior.
The GCRBC supplied equipment and medical personnel for the blood drive. REMS coordinated sign-ups, volunteers and traffic flow.
Jehad Mahmoud, the community outreach assistant for REMS, said that planning for each blood drive starts around two months in advance to arrange parking, staffing and reserving the room.
“[Blood drives are] of those things that we, as REMS, don’t struggle with when we staff it with volunteers,” said Mahmoud, a Martel College sophomore. “Everyone is eager and everyone wants to do it. People don’t get anything in return for donating. They just do it out of pure love of saving people.”
Mahmoud said that this is his second time volunteering for the blood drive with REMS after joining in the fall semester.
“When REMS people volunteer, they do it with passion,” Mahmoud said. “They’re not getting paid for that. They’re not getting anything, but they’re doing it just because they love giving back to the community and they feel that responsibility of giving back.”
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