By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Now that the safety issues related to the last couple of weeks appear to be behind us, the American Red Cross is once again asking for the help of blood donors to replenish supplies.
"Now that the snow is melting, we've got to be sure that blood's available for patients," said Jan Hale with the Red Cross. "We're urging people to make that appointment to come in to donate as soon as they can."
Blood drives are going on this week on Monday from noon to 6 p.m. at Crossroads Christian Church at 4310 N Monroe in Hutchinson and on Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Hutchinson Regional Medical Center at 1701 East 23rd. There is also a drive in Pretty Prairie Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Graber Mercantile at 115 West Main Street.
"Last week and leading up to the storms we lost the potential to collect over 1000 donations," Hale said. "That's huge, and so it's going to take all of us working together as it has through this entire pandemic to be sure that blood is available and ready for whoever needs it whenever they need it."
If you recently have had COVID-19 and are now healthy enough to donate, they really need to hear from you.
"We absolutely are doing antibody testing," Hale said. "We are also, for those that have recovered from the virus, we are doing testing that, if those antibodies show up in their blood, it is removed so that it can be processed and be able to help patients that are currently fighting the virus."
To help ensure lifesaving patient care isn’t impacted, individuals are urged to make appointments to donate in the coming days and weeks by downloading the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or enabling the Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device.
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