The Red Cross has asked our church to host emergency blood drive on Wednesday, May 20 from 11 AM –5 PM. Currently, they are 100,000 donations behind due to this crisis, and we were glad to help. The drives will be in Pierson Hall, and appointments can be made at redcrossblood.org. They have given us the following information regarding giving blood during this time of uncertainty.
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 with each donor
- Routinely wiping down donor-touched areas
- Using sterile collection sets for every donation, and
- Preparing the arm for donation with an aseptic scrub