Inventory for a specific blood type can drastically change from day-to-day based the usage in area hospitals. If you are healthy and eligible we encourage you to donate on a consistent basis throughout the year to ensure the area hospitals have an adequate supply of all blood products for any medical situation they are faced with. To schedule an appointment click here.
To ensure adequate social distancing for our donors and our staff, we prefer donors make an appointment to donate at our centers and blood drives, however walk-ins are always welcome.
COVID-19 AND DONATING BLOOD
Donating Blood is an Essential Service and Encouraged Activity
Blood donors are exempt from the stay-at-home order which does not include essential health services, such as those provided by Cascade Regional Blood Services and its donors. The health and safety of our donors, patients, staff, and community as a whole is is our upmost importance. We are adhering to the social distancing requirements, which has limited the number of donors we can schedule per day, thus our appointment schedules are filling up more quickly than usual.
Appointments preferred. Click here to make appointment this week – and commit to donating every 56 days throughout 2021 – to ensure the blood supply is available in our community as we stay strong together – 6′ apart.
The impact of COVID-19 continues to affect the local blood supply as canceled blood drives have caused a significant drop in donations.
Many businesses, schools and churches that typically host drives with Cascade Regional Blood Services have been closed much of the duration of COVID. The decrease in blood drives has resulted in a low community blood supply while the need for blood has rapidly increased as hospitals resume elective surgeries and continue treatments for cancer, other diseases such as sickle cell anemia and daily traumas.
We desperately need all healthy, eligible donors to roll up your sleeves and give blood as soon as possible. It is important for donors to keep their appointments and consistently make future appointments. Every donation is equally important, and we will need consistent blood donations for months to come.
You are Immediately Eligible to Donate After Receiving the COVID-19 Vaccine
There is NO deferral time period for blood donors who received the Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, or Pfizethere vaccine.
What you Need to Know
Cascade Regional Blood Services continues to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic and all related CDC, FDA, and other public health guidelines. The coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, poses no risk to blood donors, either during the donation process or from attending organized blood drives. There is no evidence that coronaviruses (including the viruses that cause SARS and MERS) are transfusion transmitted diseases. This is a respiratory illness and according to the FDA, there are no known cases of transfusion related transmission of COVID-19.
Blood donation is being encouraged both by the FDA and Governor Inslee in order to maintain a healthy, local supply. “We Need People to Start Turning Out in Force to Give Blood”. That urgent call-to-action coming from Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, as fear about the coronavirus is keeping people from wanting to donate blood. Scroll down to see a video from the FDA and the blood organizations and click here to read their joint press release.
Every day brings new developments related to the virus and we recognize that although the local circumstance continues to change, we want to assure you that we are closely monitoring the situation and continue to follow our rigid health and safety protocols.
It is Safe to Donate Blood
As your community blood center, Cascade Regional Blood Services is dedicated to helping protect the health and safety of our donors, patients, volunteers, staff, and community as a whole.
We have safety measures in place to minimize contact with fellow donors. We are adhering with social distancing recommendations at our centers and mobile drives. We are providing 6 feet separation between donors in our reception areas, donation beds, and canteen areas.
There are times during donation where it’s not possible for our staff to be 6 feet from donors so our staff are wearing face shields to protect themselves and our donors.
To ensure we can adhere with physical distancing between donors, we strongly encourage donors to make an appointment to donate so we can manage the donor flow.
We encourage all healthy folks to click here and schedule appointments over the next few weeks at one of our three centers or find a blood drive here, and keep commitments to donate blood. The need will be ongoing for quite some time and we rely on your continued support.
A Safe and Adequate Blood Supply is Needed
It is imperative that healthy individuals continue to donate to minimize disruptions to the blood supply. As the coronavirus outbreak expands, our blood supply is affected by the decrease in the number of eligible donors and collection drives that are cancelled. Maintaining a sufficient blood supply is essential to ensure patients receive needed treatments. Our centers are operating on normal business hours, and we encourage you to donate if you are healthy and have not donated in the past 56 days.
Measures are in Place to Ensure the Safety of the Blood Supply
Routine screening measures that are already in place that prevent individuals with clinical respiratory infections from donating blood. According to FDA, there have been no cases of coronaviruses (including SARS and MERS-CoV) reported or suspected from blood transfusions.
Your Health and Safety
Meticulous hand hygiene and environmental hygiene play a key role in isolation precautions. We have increased our routine cleaning and disinfection in our centers and mobile units and added additional hand hygiene supplies for donors. We encourage you to follow basic CDC recommended preventative actions to help prevent the spread of respiratory diseases including:
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick
- Thoroughly wash your hands often with soap and water
- Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol, when hand washing is not available
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth
Containing the Coronavirus
If you are feeling unwell for any reason, please do not come in. You may contact us to reschedule your appointment. We’d love to see you when you’re healthy, symptom-free of any cold or virus, and feeling better.
Donors please do not donate today if any of the following apply to you within the last 14 days:
- Persistent Cough
- Shortness of Breath or Difficulty Breathing
- Or at least two of these symptoms:
- Fever
- Chills
- Headache
- Sore Throat
- Congestion or Runny Nose
- Muscle Pain
- New Loss of Taste or Smell
- Nausea or Vomiting
- Diarrhea
If you develop an unexplained illness within the next 14 days PLEASE see your doctor and notify us as soon as possible at 1-877-24-BLOOD.
We will update our processes as more information becomes available. The Washington State Department of Health has established a call center to address questions from the public. If you have questions about what is happening in Washington, how the virus spreads, and what to do if you have symptoms, please call 1-800-525-0127 and press #.
Please Donate Now and Often
Eligible donors of all ages and ethnicity are needed now more than ever. To be eligible to donate, donors must be in good health, feeling well, and have a normal temperature. Donating is by appointment only. Click here to make an appointment.
COVID-19 is affecting every aspect of our lives – how we live, how we work, how we relate to one another. Moments like this can make us feel disempowered, especially when so many of us are physically separated from the loved ones who bring meaning to our lives. But it is these moments that shape us. They draw into focus the disparities between the world as it is and the world we want. They define who we are as a human family.
As a not-for-profit business and community leaders, we understand that this has not impacted all of us equally. This disease has disproportionately impacted people of color, not least of all because African Americans and other communities of color make up a high percentage of front-line workers in healthcare and other essential organizations. Many across America are bearing an unequal burden that is not unique to COVID-19, as recent demonstrations across the country have brought into sharp relief.
If you or someone you know has recently recovered from COVID-19, a plasma donation can help those who are currently sick with the disease as well as aid in the development of potentially life-saving treatments. For more information about how you can donate COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma please click here.
when tragedies strike around the country
We are deeply saddened by the senseless violence and tragic acts of nature around the country that impact our friends, family, neighbors, and those we have never met, and profoundly share their pain. Our heartfelt thoughts are with everyone who is impacted by these tragedies; the victims, their family & friends, the First Responders, the healthcare providers, and the entire community.
If hospitals in these states need assistance, we can and will work with Blood Centers of America to provide lifesaving blood to those patients. Please help us build up our supply in the event that we are asked to assist. The most critical need right now is Platelets and O Pos Blood Type; however, no matter your type, we welcome your support and generosity.
Set your date to donate here.
If you have specific questions about COVID-19 or flu vaccines, donating blood, or donating CCP please call 1-877-24-BLOOD and speak to a donor specialist.