From Local Sources

The American Red Cross is looking for sites in Dubois County to host blood drives as the organization now faces a severe blood shortage due to an unprecedented number of blood drive cancellations in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Healthy individuals are needed now to donate to help patients counting on lifesaving blood.

If your business or organization is willing to host the American Red Cross with a blood drive at your location, contact Theo Boots, executive director of the Red Cross' Southwest Indiana chapter for more details.
See below.

As the coronavirus pandemic has grown here in the U.S., blood drive cancellations have grown at an alarming rate, according to the Red Cross. To date, nearly 4000 Red Cross blood drives have been canceled across the country due to concerns about congregating at workplaces, college campuses and schools amidst the coronavirus outbreak. These cancellations have resulted in some 100,000 fewer blood donations. More than 80% of the blood the Red Cross collects comes from drives held at locations of this type.

The Red Cross has implemented new measures to ensure blood drives and donation centers are even safer for donors and staff, 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.

• Increasing enhanced disinfecting of surfaces and equipment.

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, including:

• Wearing gloves and changing gloves with each donor.

• Routinely wiping down donor-touched areas.

• Using sterile collection sets for every donation.

• Preparing the arm for donation with an aseptic scrub.

There is no data or evidence that this coronavirus can be transmitted by blood transfusion, and there have been no reported cases of transfusion transmission for any respiratory virus including this coronavirus worldwide.

The blood drive schedule is changing daily. Visit RedCrossBlood.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS or use the Red Cross Blood Donor App to find the most current list of open blood drives online.

To donate blood, individuals need to bring a blood donor card or driver’s license or two other forms of identification that are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age in most states (16 with parental consent where allowed by state law), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also must meet certain height and weight requirements.

Donors can also save up to 15 minutes at the blood drive by completing a RapidPass. With RapidPass, donors complete the pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire online, on the day of donation, from a mobile device or computer. To complete a RapidPass®, follow the instructions at RedCrossBlood.org/RapidPass or use the Red Cross Blood Donor App