Noah Johnson Daily Press Red Cross team member Benjamin Sollberger prepares to take blood from donor Alissa Sanville.

ESCANABA — Bay College hosted a community event this past week where students and local residents gathered together for a pint. The pint wasn’t a lager or an IPA but rather a pint of blood donated to those in need.

On Wednesday, Bay College hosted the Red Cross for a blood drive at its Escanaba campus.

“We come here pretty often in Escanaba. I think every two weeks, we’re either at this one (Bay) or over at the Wellspring Church over at the mall, and we’re just coming to get some blood to help out people in need,” said Red Cross Team Leader Trent Paider.

Once the Red Cross collects the blood, it is transported to Madison, Wis., where it is tested before being shipped to various areas, including Madison, Chicago, and even places in California.

Paider added that he wasn’t sure how many people would come out for this drive as it was the first week back from winter break. However, people were trickling in and out of the drive before noon when the drive was only an hour in.

The process, including registration, questionnaire, physical, donating, and recovery, takes roughly an hour.

“We are gonna do some health history stuff, which revolves around doing a physical. So we’re gonna check your hemoglobin, your blood pressure, your pulse, and we’re going to check your temperature,” Paider explained.

After completing the registration, the physical, and other clerical tasks, individuals are then ready to have their blood taken – a five to 10-minute process.

“We take about a pint or about a unit that can be anywhere from about 450 milliliters to about 500 milliliters in the bag,” he said.

After donating, donors are asked to hang out and have a snack and some water to ensure they don’t have any adverse reactions to the process.

“If they do have any reactions, we always help them out before they leave. Worst case, we could call an ambulance, but most of the time, you just pass out, go for a little nap, and then you’re okay after that,” Paider explained.

He said blood drives across the country are more important now due to the wildfires raging in Los Angeles, Calif. Because of the fires, the area cannot host regularly scheduled blood drives.

“Their constant supply of blood drives that they have there aren’t going on. So this is where we’re kind of in a little bit more of a need now just because their daily blood drives are not running,” he said.

Bay Executive Director of Student Life and Campus Security, Dave Laur, said students from Bay also volunteered to assist the Red Cross in the registration process. He added that the donors are eager and happy to donate.

“It seems like giving blood is one of those things that people who do it really enjoy doing it and do it over and over. It’s that feel-good of helping, giving back, which is awesome. Overall, I think it’s positive,” Laur said.

Laur and Paider both expressed their gratitude to the community for coming and donating.

“Thanks to everybody who’s been able to come on out and give a pint,” Laur said.