Help the community at upcoming blood drive

by CJ Blomquist

OptumCare

Pandemic or not, there is always a need for blood donations. These donations serve patients in critical circumstances, such as those in surgery or in need of a transfusion. Each quarter, the Health Care Center hosts an American Red Cross blood drive, and the next one is on Friday, July 23, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

Appointment required. It used to be easy to walk in and donate blood. But now a few extra precautions are needed to keep LW residents, their neighbors, and the HCC and Red Cross employees safe. This year, everyone make an appointment to donate. To help limit the number of people in the room at any one time, everyone mustmakeanappointment.There are two ways to sign up:

• Call Vanessa Van Mil at the Red Cross at (714) 697-5491.

• Visit RedCrossBlood.org. Enter the sponsor code “leisure” in the box that says, “Find a Blood Drive.”

By making a reservation, no one will be kept waiting. Donors will be on their way quickly. People can also save time by scheduling through RedCrossBlood.org/ RapidPass, where donors can fill out and submit pre-donation paperwork online.

Standard precautions apply.

A face mask or covering is required; this is for everyone’s safety. The doors to Conference Room 1 will be kept open, so no one will need to walk through the entire clinic.

New safety protocols. The Red Cross will now test each donor’s blood to see if it contains COVID-19 antibodies. Not everyone with the virus has symptoms, so antibody testing an important new feature of the blood drive. There is no cost to the donor for the testing. If a donation is negative for antibodies, it can be used for patients in need. The Red Cross will send donors the test results through its online portal.