Surgeon General Calls For Blood Donations
As the U.S. Surgeon General stated in his address to the nation, “You can still go out and give blood…social distancing does not have to mean social disengagement.” Blood Assurance would like to inform the public that you can continue to help others during this difficult time by donating blood safely at a center or drive near you.
Blood Assurance and the hospitals in its community would greatly appreciate your support. As of March 18th, the number of blood drives canceled nationwide had reached over 12,000 accounting for 355,000 blood donations. More cancellations are expected and the time to prepare is now.
Blood Assurance is taking additional steps to ensure the health of its donors and is closely monitoring the coronavirus outbreak nationally and in its service area. Please visit www.bloodassurance.org/coronavirus. In addition to the special protocols already in place, Blood Assurance is encouraging donors to make appointments and use its QuickScreen app to answer health history questions in advance. To do that donors can visit www.bloodassurance.org/quickscreen. Blood Assurance has also extended hours at several centers and is minimizing the amount of appointments taken per hour in order to maintain social distancing.
Blood Assurance’s Gunbarrel center, 1748 Gunbarrel Rd #104 will be open extra hours starting Monday, March 23 – March 27 from 8 A.M. – 8 P.M.
Blood Assurance’s Downtown Center, 705 East 4th Street is open regular hours, 8:30 A.M. – 6 P.M. Open Saturday and Sunday March 28th and March 29th 9 A.M. – 1 P.M.
Blood Assurance’s North River center, 1920 Northpoint Blvd, Suite A will be open 8 A.M. – 5 P.M.
Blood Assurance will also be giving away an Echo Dot every week to one randomly chosen donor and one 65” smart T.V. will also be given away at the end of March. All donors over the age of 18 are eligible to win.
Donating whole blood takes about 30 minutes and can impact 3 people in area hospitals. An appointment can be scheduled by phone or online. To schedule an appointment at a donor center or blood drive, please visit www.bloodassurance.org, call 800-962-0628 or text BAGIVE to 999777.
To be eligible to donate blood, you must be at least 17 years old (16 years old with parental consent), weigh 110 pounds or more and be in good health. Donors are asked to drink plenty of fluids — avoiding caffeine — and eat a meal that is rich in iron prior to donating.