March 19, 2020 11:53am - American Red Cross in urgent need for blood
Hello Community Partners,
Since you are a dedicated partner of the American Red Cross we are reaching out to ask if you will partner with Blood Services during this critical time as we respond to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the blood supply. About 1,500 blood drives have been canceled across the country due to coronavirus concerns, resulting in more than 46,000 fewer blood donations. Red Cross now faces a severe blood shortage, and we expect this shortage to grow.
We are asking you to identify potential locations in your community to host blood drives as fixed sites in the coming weeks. These sites need to remain open to the public, have easy access with enough space to accommodate social distancing. The spaces that we use for emergency shelter locations will work for any blood drive.
The health of our valued partners, donors and staff are every bit as important to us as the patients we serve with lifesaving blood every day. In light of the coronavirus, we are employing additional precautions for our staff to ensure good health on the day of the drive. Employees will test their own temperatures, wear gloves through the entire donation process, and follow the same advice others follow: if you’re feeling unwell or have a temperature above 99.5°F, stay home. We are also increasing vigilance with disinfectant, social distancing, additional donor temperature readings prior to entering the drive, and more. Each day, we evaluate the need and opportunity for additional safety measures. Here is a video message from CDC to share with your management team.
This coronavirus pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on our blood supply. Now, more than ever, we need our communities to help patients in need. If you have a location that the Red Cross can use to host save blood drives, please contact:
Evan Woods at (816) 490-2310 or Evan.Woods@redcross.org.
Thank you,
Sarah Clark-Williams, Disaster Program Manager
Ë American Red Cross of Missouri and Arkansas
6601 Winchester Ave. Suite 110, Kansas City, MO 64133
Phone: (816) 591-5136 Email: sarah.clarkwilliams@redcross.org
Follow American Red Cross online:
Missouri: F/MissouriRedCross @RedCrossMO IG @redcrossmo
Arkansas: F/ArkRedCross @ArkRedCross IG @arkredcross
Blood Services: @RedCrossBloodMOIL @RedCrossBldGOA
Every 8 minutes the American Red Cross responds to a disaster.
You can help give hope. Volunteer on a Disaster Action Team!