Red Cross to Hold Free Instructional Classes for People Interested in Becoming Blood Services Volunteers
News Release: January 25, 2002
Contact: Janice Osborne, Manager-Media & Community Affairs
(610) 865-4400, ext. 262
The American Red Cross of the Greater Lehigh Valley will hold free training classes for individuals interested in becoming blood services volunteers for blood collections in the Carbon County area.
"The American Red Cross needs volunteers to perform various functions at blood collections. In particular, we need volunteers to conduct health history interviews and to perform hemoglobin tests," said Carl Kist, branch manager at the American Red Cross of the Greater Lehigh Valley office in Lehighton.
The health history class will be held on Jan. 29; the hemoglobin class on Jan. 30. Both classes will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Red Cross office at 129 N. First Street, Lehighton. Participants must meet eligibility requirements.
Attendees in the health history class will be trained to conduct a confidential health history interview with a donor, including taking and recording of the donor's blood pressure and pulse.
To attend the training, you must be: a licensed RN, PA or LPN; a student nurse who has completed a basic medical/surgical nursing course in a three- or four-year diploma or BSN program; a student in the last six months of an associate degree program; or a junior year physician's assistant student.
In the hemoglobin class, participants will be trained to perform the hemoglobin test using the copper sulfate method.
To attend the training, you must be: a licensed RN, LPN, EMT, PA, medical technician, lab technician or paramedic; a student nurse who has completed a basic medical/surgical nursing course in a three- or four-year diploma or BSN program; a student in the last six months of an LPN program; a junior year physician's assistant student; or a student in the second semester of an associate nursing degree program.
Classes will be taught by a Red Cross instructor from the Northeastern Pennsylvania Blood Services Center in Wilkes-Barre and are free of charge.
To register for the training classes or for additional information, call Kist at 610-377-2100.
The American Red Cross of the Greater Lehigh Valley serves more than 660,000 residents in Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties. Last year the Red Cross provided health and safety education training and emergency relief services to more than 15,500 Lehigh Valley residents.
For more information about the local Red Cross, visit www.redcrosslv.org.
