Help your community at the next blood drive on July 24

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Grecia Nunez

Senior ambassador, HCC

Pandemic or not, there is still a need for blood donations. These donations serve patients in critical need, such as those in surgery or in need of a transfusion. Each quarter, the HCC hosts the American Red Cross blood drive. The next drive will be on Friday, July 24, from 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Here are some things you should know about the upcoming event:

• Appointment required. It used to be easy to walk in and donate blood. But now we need to take a few extra precautions to keep you, our neighbors, and the Red Cross employees safe. This year, we are asking that everyone make an appointment to donate. This lets us limit the number of people in the room at a time. It also means no one will be kept waiting. You’ll be in, out, and on your way quickly.

You can schedule your Red Cross donation appointment by calling Lisa Love at the Red Cross at (909) 282-6685

• Standard precautions apply. A face mask or covering is required. This is for everyone’s safety, including yours. To help make it easier, we’re also leaving the doors to Conference Room 1 open. This way you don’t need to go through the entire clinic. You can walk right in for your appointment.

There are some new safety protocols with COVID-19 as well. The Red Cross will now test each donor’s blood to see if it has antibodies to the virus. As a reminder, not everyone with COVID-19 has symptoms.That makes antibody testing an important new feature of the blood drive. If your donation is negative for antibodies, it can be used for patients in need. The Red Cross will send you the test results through their online portal. There is no cost to you for the testing.

Schedule an appointment with the Red Cross calling (909) 282-6685. Save some time by scheduling through www. RedCrossBlood.org/RapidPass, where you can fill out your pre-donation paperwork right through the website.