LSC-Montgomery advocates for increased involvement in campus blood drives

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Kathy Johanson, division operations specialist at Lone Star College-Montgomery, and nursing professor, Carol Girocco, have a very lofty goal in mind for campus blood drives in 2014-2015. They intend to create lifelong civic partnerships and make them a maverick culture at the college.

In 2013-2014, LSC-Montgomery, in partnership with several area hospitals, was very active in conducting campus wide blood drives, involving students, faculty, staff and community. Last year the campus conducted 10 blood drives, saw 478 donors, and provided 536 donated products.

Johanson, blood drive coordinator, hopes to further increase student and campus involvement this year, through partnerships with Gulf Coast Blood Center, Methodist Hospital, M.D. Anderson Hospital, and St. Luke’s Hospital.

“I have it on a cycle now, where we will have nine blood drives a year,” Johanson said. “They’re evenly spaced so that there are four in the fall semester, four in the spring semester, and one in the summer.”

Girocco, along with other members of the LSC-Montgomery staff and student body, has a personal reason to advocate for more participation in blood drives. Girocco’s husband was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia in 2013.

“Facilities often have to cancel procedures because they just don’t have enough blood,” she said. “I would hate to have a busload of kids hurt and not enough blood to help them. In the end, it comes down to a matter of public safety.”

Johanson and Girocco have been working with LSC-Montgomery classes, groups, and faculty sponsors to get students more involved. Some classes require students to do service work and this is a way for them to achieve that service credit. Incentives, such as admittance to the surgical rotunda at St Luke’s Hospital to observe open heart surgery, are even being offered to nursing students assisting with blood drives.

“This is something mavericks do,” Johanson said. “We stand behind our blood drives; we want to be good civic partners. I want us to do ourselves proud by being active participants.”

For blood drive dates, visit the LSC-Montgomery events calendar at the link provided. For more information on LSC-Montgomery blood drives, contact Kathy Johanson.