American Red Cross Needs Our Help

As the outbreak of COVID-19 continues to impact our communities, we need your help ensuring we have a sufficient blood supply to support hospital patients in Kansas and across the country. The American Red Cross is working to continue delivering our mission, including the collection of lifesaving blood, but we have had a staggering number of scheduled Red Cross blood drives cancelled as more workplaces, college campuses and other venues send people home and encourage social distancing. Disruptions to blood donations can lead to shortages and cause delays in essential medical care. As of this morning, nearly 4,500 blood drives, representing approximately 150,000 blood donations, have been cancelled in the U.S. due to COVID-19 concerns.  Here in Kansas, we have had 48 blood drives cancelled due to coronavirus concerns, resulting in 1,249 uncollected blood donations.  As concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic rise, we need your help to communicate three vital messages to the public:

  • Donating blood is a safe process and people should not be concerned about giving or receiving blood during this challenging time.  (If you are able to donate, please share photos documenting your donation on social media to ease concerns about donating during this time.)
  • More healthy donors are needed to give now to prevent a blood shortage.
  • Keep scheduled blood drives, which will allow donors the opportunity to give blood.

 

Take a minute to and watch the FDA Video about the call to action to blood donation.

 

Donate Blood: Like a hospital, grocery store or pharmacy, blood drives are essential to the health of the community, and the Red Cross will continue to hold blood drives during this challenging time to help meet patient needs. In fact, the U.S. surgeon general has said, “You can still go out and give blood. We’re worried about potential blood shortages in the future. Social distancing does not have to mean social disengagement.” Donating blood is a safe process, and Red Cross employees are following thorough safety protocols to help prevent the spread of any type of infection. The Red Cross has also implemented additional precautions to ensure the safety of our donors and staff during this outbreak. You can visit redcrossblood.org to make a donation appointment.

 

 

As an emergency preparedness organization, the Red Cross has also taken additional steps to ensure the safety of staff and donors at each blood drive:

  • The Red Cross only collects blood from individuals who are healthy and feeling well at the time of donations – and who meet other eligibility requirements, available at RedCrossBlood.org 
  • We are now pre-screening all individuals by checking their temperature before they enter any Red Cross blood drive or donation center, including our own staff and volunteers.
  • At each blood drive and donation center, Red Cross employees follow thorough safety protocols including wearing gloves, routinely wiping down donor-touched areas, using sterile collection sets for every donations, and preparing the arm for donation with an aseptic scrub.
  • Additional spacing has been implemented within each blood drive set up to incorporate social distancing measures between donation beds and stations within the blood drive.

Like a hospital, grocery store, or pharmacy, a blood drive is vital to ensuring the health of the community, and the Red Cross will continue to hold blood drives during this challenging time to help meet patient needs. We understand that people have concerns right now about all aspects of public health, but want to stress that donating blood is a safe process and people should not hesitate to give. Most blood drives are not considered “mass gatherings” as these are controlled events with trained staff and appropriate safety measures to protect donors and recipients. It is important to note that at each blood drive and donation center, Red Cross employees follow thorough safety protocols to help prevent the spread of any type of infection.

These mitigation measures will help keep blood recipients, staff, and donors safe.

A blood shortage could impact patients who need surgery, victims of car accidents and other emergencies, or patients suffering from cancer. One of the most important things you can do to ensure we don’t have another health care crisis on top of the coronavirus is to give blood.

The Red Cross is also working to ensure we can continue to carry out other aspects of our lifesaving mission, including providing critical disaster relief services. We are working with public health officials to ensure the safety of local communities and our workforce, while still providing the help and hope they need should disaster strike.

We are asking the American people to give blood during this challenging time, and we are asking you as an elected official to help communicate this critical need through your social and personal networks, including your use of social media. Those who are healthy, feeling well and eligible to give blood or platelets, are urged to make an appointment to donate as soon as possible using the Red Cross Blood Donor app, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 800-RED-CROSS.

Consider following our official Red Cross social networks to stay updated on our work: 

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