Due to the cancellation of blood drives throughout the United States, the American Red Cross is making an urgent plea for individual blood donations.
To schedule a blood donation, click here: https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/find-drive
“This blood shortage could impact patients who need surgery, victims of car accidents and other emergencies, or patients fighting cancer. One of the most important things you can do to ensure we don’t have another health care crisis on top of coronavirus is make an appointment to donate.”
More information about American Red Cross blood donation safety protocols are here: https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/dlp/coronavirus–covid-19–and-blood-donation.html
These protocols include:
- Wearing gloves and changing them often
- Wiping down donor-touched areas after every collection
- Using sterile collection sets for every donation
- Preparing the arm for donation with aseptic scrub
- Conducting donor mini-physicals to ensure donors are healthy and well on day of donation
- Enhanced disinfecting of equipment
- Providing hand sanitizer for use before entering and throughout the donation appointment
- Temperature checks before presenting donors enter the blood drive or donation center
- Spacing beds, where possible, to follow social distancing practices between donors