SEVERE blood shortage taking place during COVID-19 – Can you help?

As the coronavirus pandemic has grown here in the U.S., we have seen blood drive cancellations grow at an alarming rate. Through March 18, more than 4,500 Red Cross blood drives have been canceled across the country due to coronavirus concerns, resulting in about 150,000 fewer blood donations.The American Red Cross now faces a severe blood shortage due to an unprecedented number of blood drive cancellations during this coronavirus outbreak. Healthy individuals are needed to donate now and in the weeks ahead to help patients counting on lifesaving blood.

• Workplaces, college campuses and schools are canceling their blood drives as these locations temporarily close and more people are being told to work remotely and practice social distancing.
• We are expecting cancellations to continue to increase, which is causing heightened concern for blood collection organizations and hospitals across the country.

We understand why people may be hesitant to come out for a blood drive, but want to reassure the public that we have implemented additional precautions to ensure the safety of our donors and staff in response to concern, including:

• Checking the temperature of staff and donors before entering a drive to make sure they are healthy
• Providing hand sanitizer for use before the drive, as well as throughout the donation process
• Spacing beds, where possible, to follow social distancing practices between blood donors, and
• Increasing enhanced disinfecting of surfaces and equipment.

We also want to emphasize that at each blood drive and donation center, Red Cross employees already follow thorough safety protocols to help prevent the spread of any type of infection. These strict safety protocols include:

• Wearing gloves and changing gloves often
• Routinely wiping down donor-touched areas
• Using sterile collection sets for every donation, and
• Preparing the arm for donation with an aseptic scrub

All of these mitigation measures will help ensure the safety of all those at a blood drive or center.

There is no evidence and there are no reported cases of the coronavirus – or any respiratory virus – being transmitted by a blood transfusion.

This 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.

Give the gift of life! Find the nearest blood drive here

 

 

Please help us get the word out about the blood shortage

Click the link below for a Word document with sample social network posts and links to downloadable graphics.
Sample social network posts

For more information on COVID-19 visit the Red Cross website

 

Disaster Cycle Services

The Red Cross Mission Essential Functions as of March 17, 2020.

Our TOP PIORITY is the safety of the workforce.

American Red Cross Disaster Cycle Services has prioritized the Mission Essential Functions in this order

1. Provision of life-sustaining emergency shelter/lodging (including Disaster Action Team operations)
2. Support to American Red Cross Biomedical Services to ensure availability of the nation’s blood supply
3. Providing life-sustaining mass care services (other than emergency shelter) only in the event of a critical gap than cannot be filled by other available partners.

For More Information

For more information, contact your Red Cross point of contact or ngopartners@redcross.org  JOIN our email list! Send us your name, organization and email to mobilize@redcross.org