Editor’s Note: To commemorate Phlebotomists Recognition Week, we’re highlighting select American Red Cross phlebotomists. These valuable team members carry out all aspects of the blood collection process while ensuring donors have a safe and welcoming experience.

By Jenny Farley

When Jasmine Glover’s mother beat cancer, it inspired her.

“Seeing everything she had to go through made me want to be in that health care setting just to help people,” she said.

Jasmine trained as a medical assistant before working for the American Red Cross as a phlebotomist, where she takes donor health histories as part of her job.

“I do hear a lot of stories. Sometimes you will find that one donor you just connect with,” she said.

Jasmine loves the perks of the job like traveling to meet new people and comforting first time donors.

“They’re always nervous when they come in.”

Jasmine described one donor who said he waited 30 years to give blood because he was “terrified.” She told him how she ended up working for the Red Cross.

“It eased his mind and he was like, ‘you know, I will come back. It’s not as bad as I thought it was.’ So I thought that was pretty cool.”

When people donate blood, they undergo a short physical exam.

Jasmine has heard donors talk about how the Red Cross saved their lives because those exams led them to their doctor where they discovered “they did have something going on.”

If you are interested in giving blood, Jasmine said it doesn’t take that long and you won’t be alone.

“We’re going to take care of them. We don’t really leave their side.”