Life and Blood Stream Through the Pandemic
Surreal is hardly a word to describe the state of the whole world last year when COVID-19 stroke. Undoubtedly, last year was such a challenging time for everyone. As the pandemic swept across the globe, everyone — young and old, men and women — regardless of social class, economic status, racial and ethnic background, found themselves in the same boat.
It was almost like the world hit a pause…and as individuals and families established their new norms in the comfort of their homes, behind facial masks, and through virtual interactions, many organizations who have made their mark in humanitarian affairs also found their world upended.
The American Red Cross, known for its blood donation services and emergency responses, is one of the many remarkable organizations that had to adapt and rethink their course of actions as the pandemic continued to swing.
Jessica Merrill, Director of Biomedical Communications for the Red Cross said, “at the start of the pandemic inMarch 2020, the Red Cross saw many of its blood drives being canceled as drive hosts were closing their doors to help prevent the spread of the virus and keep their communities safe.” Moreover, Merrill added hospitals adapted their operations to focus on treating COVID-19 patients — canceling many elective surgeries causing the demand for blood to drop — temporarily.
As the U.S.’ largest blood donation organization, the Red Cross quickly adapted its operations, implementing new safety measures to ensure it could continue to collect blood safely and meet the needs of the patients at hospitals across the country.
“Red Cross provides nearly 40 percent of the nation’s blood supply to approximately 2,500 hospitals nationwide. Through our national network, we’re able to move blood to where it is needed most. Through the support of community partners, Red Cross replaced canceled blood drives with drives at new locations to continue to meet the ongoing need for blood during the pandemic,” Merrill shared. Blood drives were being carried out within the safety guidelines of CDC and OSHA — face mask requirements, social distancing, and setting up appointments to manage the flow of the crowd.
The Red Cross has been testing all donations for COVID-19 antibodies. With that, many efforts were directed towards understanding the coronavirus and potential treatments. Merrill underlined, “Red Cross adapted our blood collection operations to implement a new COVID-19 convalescent plasma donation program to provide plasma from those who recovered from the virus as potential treatment for individuals battling coronavirus. We also initiated COVID-19 antibody testing on all blood, platelet and plasma donations to help provide valuable health insights to donors.”
Throughout the pandemic, the American Red Cross Scientific Affairs Office has monitored the migration of the virus throughout the U.S. Through archived samples from blood donations, the organization made attempts to find the first appearance of the virus in the U.S. While there’s still much to uncover, the findings traced the first appearance of the virus back in December 2019.
When it comes to disaster relief services, people’s need for the American Red Cross remained constant, throughout the pandemic. The emergencies never stopped and so the work of Red Cross continues whether it’s providing a safe shelter, food to eat, or resources that help individuals and families recover. Some of the assistance provided had to be delivered virtually to ensure safety, such as providing financial assistance and mental health support over the phone.
“Instead of deploying some volunteers we adapted our procedures to ensure we could connect with people affected by disasters over the phone to provide financial assistance and mental health support,” Merrill highlighted. One of Red Cross’ innovative programs were the launch of Virtual Family Assistance Center that aims towards supporting families who have lost their loved ones due to COVID-19. Use of virtual workers and taking advantage of new technology has helped to carry out the organization’s responses to disasters throughout the pandemic.
As the vaccines have become more widely available these days, it’s important for the Red Cross to dispel myths regarding blood donation eligibility in relation to COVID-19 vaccines. Merrill emphasized, “there is no blood donation deferral time if you received a COVID-19 vaccine currently authorized in the U.S., such as Moderna, Pfizer, and J&J, as long as the donor is symptom free and feeling well at that time of donation.”
Of course, knowing the vaccine manufacturer is important upon donating blood. Those who do not know need to wait two weeks before donating blood. The blood donations from individuals who have received COVID-19 vaccines are deemed safe for transfusion as the vaccine components are not present within the blood stream.
As U.S. makes the efforts to move past COVID-19, the Red Cross is faced with lower blood donor turnout while the demand for blood is greater than before. “For many patients in hospitals awaiting surgeries and transplants, battling cancer, or recovering from traumatic accidents, the need for blood continues. In fact, in many places we are seeing greater demands than before the pandemic,” Merrill underscored.
Certainly, the U.S. and the rest of the world have been making every effort to get out of the pandemic. Equally certain is our need for organizations like the American Red Cross that has always dedicated its time and works in helping and supporting communities, from blood donations and disaster responses to educating lifesaving skills and humanitarian support, within the nation and across the globe.
It’s valuable to revisit and highlight our common hope and goal regardless of our age, gender, race, and socioeconomic status — a life that is healthy and well. Now more than ever, we have come to understand this.
For more information or to inquire about blood donation, visit RedCrossBlood.org.
