Creighton University’s School of Medicine hosted a successful blood drive with collaborative efforts from Brittany Rife, an account manager, and Lane Ritter, a second-year medical student on Wednesday, Feb. 19. 

“The goal for today is about 35 successful units. We have over…47 people signed up. So, the goal is very achievable today,” Rife said of the event’s success. 

Ritter, who served as a liaison between the medical school and the event, said she has been around blood drives since she was in college and that the practice of helping coordinate them stuck. 

 “I went to the University of Missouri for undergrad, and we do the largest student-run blood drive in the country,” Ritter said. “So, I’ve just kind of been around it for a while, and I love helping people figure out how to navigate donating blood.” 

The planning process involved reserving the space, marketing the event and incentivizing donations with prizes provided by the American Red Cross.  

“We just really recruit students to get the word out,” Ritter said. 

Rife also emphasized the importance of the blood testing process. 

“After it’s donated today, it gets sent to our lab to get tested. … There’s a panel of tests that they run on it to make sure that it’s suitable and viable to give to a patient in the hospital,” Rife said. 

Rife said she hoped that participants would recognize the ease and importance of donating blood. 

 “I would hope that they would know that donating is easier and less scary than maybe they would have assumed in the past, and that they would be willing to and excited to work with the [American] Red Cross more in the future,” Rife said. 

Both Ritter and Rife said that blood donations are incredibly impactful and important. 

“I think the biggest thing is…for a lot of different procedures and people who are critically ill, it really is a life-saving measure,” Ritter said. 

Their combined efforts underscore the vital role of community involvement in supporting healthcare initiatives.