A collection of 100 nurse dolls floods the office that Cheryl Schmidt, a clinical professor in the College of Nursing and Health Innovation, resides in.
One doll is a boxed Barbie released on the 200th birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. Another doll she keeps on her desk resembles the likes of Clara Barton, the founder of American Red Cross nursing.
"(Nightingale) is the reason the International Committee of the Red Cross created an award called the Florence Nightingale medal," said Schmidt.
Since 1975, Schmidt has worked with multiple health organizations, including the American Red Cross, using her expertise in teaching medical topics. Schmidt said her experience with the Red Cross started with her mom, who was part of the nonprofit during World War II when she taught cadet nurses how to help in the ward.
"When I was five years old, I used to see her in her white uniform and getting ready to go to work," said Schmidt. "So I've never wanted to be anything but a nurse."
With March being the national observance month for the American Red Cross, the organization's mission is shown through the importance of blood drives and accentuates the urgency of disaster preparedness.
Schmidt said she was a visiting professor in Taiwan on Sept. 11, 2001, and was not able to return to the United States until Sept. 16 due to airport shutdowns. When she got back to her nursing class, she changed the subject to teach a necessary and timely topic for the students.
"What would you do if you had to leave your home, your dorm, your apartment and the only thing you had left was what you took with you? What would you put in a go bag? What would you put on your plan?" said Schmidt. "When I teach disaster preparedness, I ask students, 'How many of you have a plan or a go bag?' No hands go up, so I'm worried that we're not ready."
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This class discussion led to Schmidt realizing the need to teach disaster preparedness through programs like the Red Cross.
"I helped the Red Cross a few years after that and created a course to help students learn how to do Red Cross disaster shelters," said Schmidt. "I'll be 75, and a lot of my colleagues are older than I am. We're not going to be here forever."
The Red Cross has trained over 20,000 nursing students nationwide using its disaster relief course, according to Schmidt.
Other students she teaches are turning to the organization for more than disaster preparedness.
"I do have nursing students who want to help the Red Cross because it's not just disasters," said Schmidt. "One of the schools here in town has their students go out and install smoke alarms. That's a service that's needed."
Georgi Donchetz, the communications manager for the Arizona and New Mexico region at the American Red Cross, said that her experience with smoke alarms at mobile homes made her feel worried.
Donchetz said that she spoke with a resident at a mobile home whose neighbor's home caught on fire, unknown to the individual due to the absence of a smoke alarm in their home. Donchetz and volunteers with the Red Cross installed smoke alarms throughout the complex to prepare residents for potential future fires.
"It's so scary. I couldn't imagine if that would have happened at night. I hate to say we're fortunate, but we were," Donchetz said. "It's just a scary thought to think that that's the reality."
Donchetz started her career with the Red Cross during COVID-19, at first working in blood drives and sales.
"I love the Red Cross," said Donchetz. "Everything we do, we're finding a reason to help. Even if it's something that we can't do, our teams are working with our community partners to make it happen, and it's the most rewarding job I've ever had in my entire life."
The Red Cross in Phoenix is currently partnering with Phoenix Rising, a professional soccer organization, to give out free tickets at blood drives for donors to use at any regular-season home game this year.
"This partnership was a match made out of heaven," said Donchetz. "Phoenix Rising really appreciates what we're doing, and they love our mission."
Donchetz said she could not stress enough the need for blood donations, and especially why blood drives are so important for young people to volunteer for.
"It's the easiest way to save a life, right?" said Donchetz.
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While blood drives at ASU are organized across all campuses, Tooker House community assistants and Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering peer mentors started hosting blood drives in 2021 in collaboration with Vitalant, a nonprofit blood and biotherapies healthcare organization separate from the American Red Cross.
"There's a lot of people out there who need blood transfusion soon, and it would be very sad if people can’t get that," Ash Sharma, a residential experience coordinator at Tooker House and a senior studying computer science, said. "Because then we will not be able to save those lives. Life is very important."
Sara Curry, a graduate student studying civil, environmental and sustainable engineering and a residential peer mentor to the Fulton Schools, started the tradition in 2021 due to concerns about a blood shortage after COVID-19. According to Curry, since the initial start, blood drives have occured twice a year, every March and October.
Both Curry and Sharma have personal connections to the cause, with Curry's mom needing a blood transfusion back in 2015 and Sharma's aunt needing blood while in a life-or-death situation. Sharma said that the experience his family faced helped him understand the importance of the cause.
"Luckily we were able to find someone, but the biggest reason why we do these blood drives is how important it is for Arizona blood banks to be full to help other people, help other families, help anyone in the community to actually live their life," said Sharma.
Curry said that the importance of blood drives should be emphasized to college students at ASU and at universities nationwide.
"I think it's especially important for people our age group to do it," said Curry. "You're young, you're healthy, you can bounce back from donating really quickly and it makes you feel good about yourself as well. Every time I donate, I feel really good. We all have family and loved ones who might need it."
Edited by Katrina Michalak, Sadie Buggle and Caera Learmonth.
Reach the reporter at gheadle@asu.edu and @George_Headley7 on X.
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