A blood drive hosted by the American Red Cross. | Wikimedia Commons
A blood drive hosted by the American Red Cross. | Wikimedia Commons
New Mexico State Rep. Gregg Schmedes (R-Tijeras), a surgeon by occupation, is asking residents to consider donating blood during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Schmedes said in a Facebook post that because COVID-19 doesn’t cause blood discharges, people who have coronavirus don’t necessarily need blood, but that's not the reason for the shortage.
“The blood shortage is a consequence of people staying home and not donating as they usually would,” Schmedes said in the post. “There has not been an increase in the demand for blood products, but there is a decrease in the supply of them. The FDA is urging Americans to donate blood if you are healthy. It is safe to donate.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in its communication “Donating Blood Questions and Answers,” said that “the blood supply is safer from infectious diseases than it has been at any other time."
In its “Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: Blood Donations” dated March 19, the Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Dr. Peter Marks said that the country’s blood supply needs a steady supply of donors who contribute millions of units of blood and blood components yearly.
“Every 2 seconds, a patient needs a blood transfusion,” Marks said in the statement. “At this time the number of blood donations has been dramatically reduced due to the implementation of social distancing and cancellation of blood drives.”
In the statement, Marks said donors to contact certain organizations to schedule appointments at blood collection centers: AABB at www.aabb.org; America’s Blood Centers, www.americasblood.org; American Red Cross, www.redcrossblood.org; Armed Services Blood Program, https://www.militaryblood.dod.mil/ or Blood Centers of America, www.bca.coop.
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