Inova Blood Donor Services and Loudoun County Public Schools to Educate Students About Blood Donation

Schools Adding Blood Donation Education to Curriculum

Falls Church, VA – (July 8, 2011) – Beginning in September, public high schools across Loudoun County will have a new addition to the Health and Driver Education curriculum: blood donation and collection information. Currently, less than 38 percent of the general population is eligible to donate blood, but the donation rate among 16- to 21-year-olds is at least 75 percent.

“We’ve found that one of the main reasons people don’t donate blood is because they are unaware or misinformed of the requirements,” said Robyn Kaplan, Senior Account Manager, Inova Blood Donor Services. “Every one of us may be dependent on blood at any moment in our lives, yet our society doesn’t teach this in any formal setting. We’re thrilled that Loudoun County Public School system is taking steps to educate today’s young people about the importance of blood donation, and we hope they will become donors for life.”

“The Virginia driver education standards of learning includes organ and tissue donation so adding information about blood donation is a logical fit,” according to LCPS Health, PE, and Driver Education Supervisor, Sheila Jones. “The Virginia driver education curriculum focuses on traffic safety concepts, such as the importance of driving skills, limiting distractions when driving, speeding, night driving, injury prevention, crash severity, and the many costs associated with crashes.  These costs include the need to help others through blood donation and the importance of having an adequate blood supply for crash victims. So, teens will learn they can do more than drive safely – they can give something that is priceless.” The Health Standards of Learning are another venue for students to learn about blood donation as the SOLs include a variety of diseases related to overall health and how to prevent or lessen the chance of disease by making healthy choices. Students typically will share about someone they know who has had a disease such as cancer or heart disease. However, the relationship between cancer and the need for red cells when a patient is undergoing chemo treatments, or the need for platelets in a patient with heart disease after surgery isn’t immediately apparent unless we educate the students about these types of scenarios. Volunteerism is also included in the Health SOLs, and blood donation is an incredible way to demonstrate personal responsibility.”

The blood donor education will include basic information in the classroom portion of the Driver Education and Health curriculum, such as eligibility requirements, blood usage, the best pre-donation practices to ensure a successful blood donation, and the significance of local blood collection remaining in the community for local hospitals. The school system will also hold quarterly blood drives at its administration building.

For more information about blood donation, visit www.inova.org/donateblood or call 1-866-BLOODSAVES (1-866-256-6372).

Inova Health System is a not-for-profit healthcare system based in Northern Virginia that consists of hospitals and other health services, including emergency- and urgent-care centers, home care, nursing homes, mental health and blood donor services, and wellness classes. Governed by a voluntary board of community members, Inova’s mission is to improve the health of the diverse community it serves through excellence in patient care, education and research. Inova provides a healthy environment for its patients, families, visitors, staff and physicians by prohibiting tobacco use on its campuses.

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