The American Red Cross of Utah is asking residents to give a potentially life-saving blood donation. Photo courtesy American Red Cross.
LOGAN – Due to the threat of COVID-19, blood drives on Utah State University’s campus and others throughout Northern Utah have been canceled, putting patients at risk in our communities.
Tim Schwer has worked for the American Red Cross for five years and donated blood for 20 – “I’ve never seen it get severe like this before,” he said.
In an effort to try and slow down the hemorrhaging of canceled drives and encourage people to continue to donate, Schwer wants residents to know that blood donation is a safe process, and people should not hesitate to give and receive blood.
“There’s no evidence that COVID-19 can be transmitted through blood transfusions,” Schwer said.
“We are asking for healthy donors, of course. At each blood drive, there have been safety protocols added to what they are doing to protect people from contracting any kind of virus, whether it be cold, flu or COVID-19. They are set up basically the same way a hospital would set up. They triage people before they come in the blood drive, check their temperature making sure they are healthy. Each process is being disinfected after contact with patients or with donors. Everything is being wiped down and sanitized after every contact and after every step through the process,” he explained.
Schwer added that residents in Cache Valley have stepped up in the past to help their neighbors and said now is “the time to all come together and serve those that are the weakest among us.”
“There’s a lot of people in our community that are struggling with cancer, moms going through difficult births that need blood transfusions. We have this whole part of our community that needs this blood for a bright future and to be able to save their lives,” he said.
Schwer is working with a number of local businesses and churches and plans to have blood drives re-scheduled in the coming days.
You can visit www.redcrossblood.org and search for a blood drive in Cache or Box Elder counties by zip code. Making an appointment online ensures you can get in and out in less than an hour and ensures there are only 5-10 donors at the drive which allows for social distancing.