Hospitals are now supporting additional patient care options they had previously postponed, such as joint replacement and other elective surgery, and have seen ongoing use of blood components for trauma, urgent surgery, cancer treatment, and other critical care throughout the pandemic.
To maintain a safe, hygienic environment at Donor Centers and blood drives:
• All staff and donors are now required to wear a face covering while inside Donor Centers or participating in a mobile blood drive. Paper masks will be provided for those who arrive without their own mask or facial covering.
• Donors are now required to make appointments for donation. To maintain social distancing and appropriate donor flow, walk-ins will only be accepted when an appointment slot is available.
• Potential donors who in the last 14 days have been within 6 feet of someone who has a COVID-19 infection or is being tested for the virus for greater than 15 minutes without use of personal protective equipment are asked to refrain from donation.
• Prior to donation, donors are screened for symptoms of illness (body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, and hemoglobin level all are checked, and the donor completes a pre-donation Donor History Questionnaire).
• When possible, donors are asked to complete the Donor History Questionnaire online on the same day as their donation (see www.bloodcenter.org/EarlyQ)
— to jg-tc.com
