On April 12th, Floral Park Memorial hosted a blood drive held by the New York Blood Center. When you enter the back gym you are first greeted by a receptionist who will take your information from a valid form of ID to confirm your age. Next, you are guided through a 65 question questionnaire. Next, you sit down in a blue cubicle where a nurse will check your information and check your blood pressure, then they will use a small device which is placed on your middle finger and a small needle will penetrate your skin. The process is quick and painless and your finger will be wrapped in a bandage.

After this, you are brought to another station where you have to lie down on a elevated type lawn chair, a new nurse will check your blood pressure again and will rub a Vaseline type substance on the inner part of your arm, they will wrap a long tube across your arm with a little needle on the end which will penetrate through the inner part of your arm, blood will be collected into a small oval plastic type bag. They will also take blood and store it into 4 little tubes, this process will take roughly 20 minutes.

Once completed, they will remove the needle and put a cotton ball onto your arm and you have to bend it until the wound has recovered. Lastly, they will use a bandage wrap to wrap the Colton ball around, it varies from person to person on how you deal with pain and symptoms. In my case, I was given ice on my back and the back of my neck because I had symptoms of dizziness.

Lastly, after 15 additional minutes, you can sit down where they offer you snacks and water. You are allowed to stay as long as you need to.