UUCW will be hosting a Community Blood Drive on Wednesday, July 29 from 1 pm – 6 pm. Please sign up to donate blood by going to Blood Drive Sign-Up. Please share this information with others so that we can make this a very successful Blood Drive.
Get your COVID-19 Antibody Status
For a limited time, the Red Cross will test all blood, platelet, and plasma donations for COVID-19 antibodies as an additional health service to our donors. The Red Cross hopes testing will provide critical insight into whether donors may have possibly been exposed to this coronavirus, as some COVID-19 carriers can be asymptomatic. We are committed to helping others in meaningful ways during this pandemic.
Donating Blood During COVID-19 Times
The American Red Cross blood drives are not mass gatherings and adhere to the highest standards of safety and infection control, and they have put additional safety precautions in place to limit the number of donors in any given space and follow social distancing practices:
- Donor appointments are staggered farther apart to reduce the number of people at the drive at any one time.
- Donors may be asked to wait in their cars or outside the building until the staff is ready to start the blood donation process to limit congregating in the arrival area.
Additional procedures implemented in response to COVID-19 concerns:
- Checking temperatures of staff and donors before entering a drive.
- Providing hand sanitizer for use throughout the drive.
- Following social distancing between donors in all areas.
- Routinely disinfecting all surfaces.
- Wearing gloves, and changing gloves often.
- Using sterile collection sets and an aseptic scrub for every donation.
- Staff will be wearing basic face masks.
You can help keep everyone safe, too:
- Donors are asked to schedule an appointment online. Blood Drive Sign-Up
- Donors are required to wear a face-covering or mask.
New to donation?
The blood donation process from the time you arrive until the time you leave takes about an hour. The donation itself is only about 8-10 minutes on average. View the full details about the process here.