The COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of more than 37,000 blood drives across the country, creating a severe blood shortage. The need for blood is constant. Elective surgeries have resumed and with communities opening up, traffic accidents are up in some areas. Earlier this month, the American Red Cross issued a plea for community organizations and businesses to host much-needed blood drive to help replenish the supply.
Even before that plea, L.A. Care Health Plan, the largest publicly operated health plan in the country, had a blood drive scheduled for today. This will be the third blood drive that L.A. Care hosted during the pandemic. The health plan held a blood drive in late March shortly after L.A. County shut down, and another in June.
L.A. Care wants to ensure that every hospital patient gets the lifesaving blood they need. All donors will get an anti-body test to determine if they previously had COVID-19.
The Red Cross staff will follow strict safety protocols, including holding the drive in a large conference room, to allow for proper social distancing.
Other Red Cross safety protocols include:
- Wearing gloves and changing them often
- Wiping down donor-touched areas after every collection
- Using sterile collection sets for every donation
- Preparing the arm for donation with aseptic scrub
- Enhanced disinfecting of equipment
- Providing hand sanitizer for use before entering and throughout the donation appointment
- Temperature checks before donors enter the blood drive
The American Red Cross will be at:
L.A. Care Health Plan
1055 West 7th Street, Los Angeles, Room 100
Tuesday, August 25
9:30 am to 3:30 pm.
Media welcome 10:00 am – Noon.