The community is invited to donate blood in Valentine on Thursday, November 5th from 11:30 am to 5:30 pm at St. Nicholas Catholic Church Parish Hall. To make an appointment, call Jeanie Cozad at 402-376-4715.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are asking donors to make an appointment to manage donor flow and allow appropriate social distancing at the blood drive.
At each blood drive, Red Cross staff already follow the highest standards of safety and infection control. In addition to our standard procedures, we have implemented additional precautions that you will notice at your local blood drive:
- Checking temperature of all staff, volunteers and donors before entering blood drive. If any staff, volunteer or donor has a temperature greater than 99.5°F they will not be able to donate/work at the drive
- Staff and volunteers will wear gloves throughout entire drive, changing gloves often
- All staff, volunteers and donors will be required to wear face masks or coverings at the blood drive in alignment with CDC public guidelines
- Donor educational materials on COVID-19
- Stop sign at entrances to avert ineligible donors Enhanced Disinfecting
- Hand sanitizer will be available at check-in, health history and refreshment areas
- Blood donors will be asked to use hand sanitizer before and during the donation process
- Donors beds will be sanitized between every donor
- Routinely disinfecting common surfaces at drive
- Set up to allow 6 feet distance between donor areas
- Only blood donors will be permitted at blood drives
- After check-in, donors will be asked to wait in a designated area (or even car), donors may be asked for a phone number to get notified it’s their turn
Donating blood is one of the simplest things a person can do to help save a patient’s life. For the hour it takes to give blood, there could be a whole community of people thankful for another birthday given to their loved one.
To make an appointment or to learn more, download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767). Completion of a RapidPass® online health history questionnaire is encouraged to help speed up the donation process. To get started, follow the instructions at redcrossblood.org/RapidPass or use the Blood Donor App. A blood donor card or driver’s license or two other forms of identification 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 have to meet certain height and weight requirements.
The Cherry County Hospital is using convalescent plasma from donors who have had and recovered from COVID-19 to treat current patients. Antibody tests are given to donors to see if you could potentially treat those who are battling the virus.