The next American Red Blood Drive at Ss. Cyril & Methodius will take place on Tuesday, September 22, from 1:00PM – 7:00PM.
As you know, donating blood products is essential to community health and the need for blood products is constant. As part of our nation’s critical infrastructure, healthy individuals are needed to donate blood. The Red Cross follows the highest standards of safety and infection control, and volunteer donors are the only source of blood for those in need so please look at the upcoming Blood Drives in your area and schedule a donation today.
Continuous blood and platelet donations are needed for the regular blood supply and in a fight against coronavirus. In times of crisis, the Red Cross is fortunate to witness the best of humanity as people roll up a sleeve to help those in need.
The top priority of the Red Cross is the safety of donors, volunteers, employees and blood recipients, and they are committed to transparency with the American public during this evolving public health emergency. There are no data or evidence that the coronavirus can be transmissible by blood transfusion, and there have been no reported cases worldwide of transmissions for any respiratory virus including this coronavirus.
The Red Cross only collects blood from individuals who are healthy and feeling well at the time of donation – and who meet other eligibility requirements. At this time, the following Safety Protocols are enforced:
Safety Protocols:
Wear a Mask – In accordance with CDC guidelines, all donors are required to wear a face covering or mask.
Social Distancing – All blood drives follow social distancing guidelines, including spacing out donor beds, waiting and refreshment areas.
Temperature Check – All donors and staff have their temperatures checked prior to entering a blood drive or donation center.
At each blood drive or donation center, Red Cross employees follow thorough safety protocols, including:
- 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
The Red Cross has also increased their vigilance concerning some of these safety protocols including:
- Enhanced disinfecting of surfaces and 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
- Following social distancing practices between donors including donor beds, as well as waiting and refreshment areas
- During this time, blankets typically used by platelet, Power Red and AB Elite donors at Red Cross blood donation centers will be laundered after each use, which may limit the availability. Donors are encouraged to bring their own blankets, but electric blankets and heating pads are not permitted.
- Staff wearing basic face masks
- For the safety of the donor community and in accordance with CDC guidelines, all donors are required to wear a face covering or mask. Please bring a face covering or mask to your donation. If you do not have one, a mask will be provided to you.
To ensure the Red Cross staff are healthy each day, the staff is committed to a standard health assessment prior to all blood drives.
Finally, only eligible and healthy people are allowed to give blood.
These mitigation measures will help ensure blood recipient safety, as well as staff and donor safety in reducing contact with those who may potentially have this respiratory infection.
COVID-19 Testing:
As of June 15, all blood, platelet and plasma donations will be tested for COVID-19 antibodies. As an organization dedicated to helping others, the Red Cross is fortunate to be able to step up to help during this pandemic by offering this service at upcoming blood drives.
For a limited time, the Red Cross will test all blood, platelet and plasma donations for COVID-19 antibodies as an additional health service to our donors. The Red Cross hopes testing will provide critical insight into whether donors may have possibly been exposed to this coronavirus, as some COVID-19 carriers can be asymptomatic. The Red Cross is committed to helping others in meaningful ways during this pandemic.
Here’s what you need to know about the COVID-19 Antibody testing:
- The COVID-19 antibody test used by the Red Cross is authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and may indicate if the donor’s immune system has produced antibodies to the coronavirus, regardless of whether they developed symptoms.
- The Red Cross is not testing to diagnose an illness, referred to as a diagnostic test. Individuals who believe they may be ill with COVID-19 should not present to donate until they are symptom free for 28 days.
- The blood donation process will not change — donations will be tested using samples obtained at the time of donation. There will be no charge to donors.
- Due to the anticipated high demand, appointments are highly encouraged.
- Donors can expect to receive the results of their antibody test within 7 to 10 days of their donation through the Blood Donor App or donor portal at RedCrossBlood.org.
- Donors need to have a successful donation to receive the COVID-19 antibody test results. Per standard donation procedure, only successful donations are sent to our laboratory for testing.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Please schedule an appointment to donate blood today! Whole Blood donations can be made every 56 days, Power Red donations every 112 days, Platelet donations every 7 days and AB Elite Plasma donations every 28 days. (NOTE: If you made a Whole Blood Donation at our last Blood Drive on July 23, you are eligible to donate again at our September 22 Blood Drive so please sign up today.)
To donate: https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/donation-time
More details or questions: http://www.redcross.org or call 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767)
Thank you for your generosity!