There is a community blood drive tomorrow at East Side Park in Washington from 11:30 to 4:30. No walk ins will be allowed as you are asked to sign up at redcrossblood.org. Go to that site and use the rapid pass system.
The American Red Cross supplies 40% of blood for transfusions. They report that because of the pandemic, 2700 blood drives across the nation were cancelled since early March. That was a loss of about 86,000 donations.
The national need for blood has increased 30% over the past few weeks. Hospitals have started performing surgeries that were put off due to the pandemic and much of the blood that was donated after the beginning of the COVID outbreak has gone past it’s shelf life. New blood, plasma and platelets are needed.
