Disclaimer: This is sponsored content. All opinions and views are of UCHealth and does not reflect the same of KOAA.
On Thursday, June 18th, UCHealth Memorial is giving you a chance to make a much-needed difference here in southern Colorado by hosting a blood drive. It’s happening at the UCHealth Administration building at 2420 east pikes peak ave in Colorado Springs from 11 am to 3 pm.
During the safer-at-home orders, elective surgeries have resumed and the need for blood at our area hospitals has increased dramatically.
Rob Welch is the Director of Laboratory Services at UCHealth Memorial. “During the COVID crisis, a lot of people put off donations and businesses canceled blood drives. We were sustained during that time in part because a lot of elective surgeries and other things were postponed. Now, they are picking back up and the need for blood is picking back up dramatically. We need our routine donors to come back, and we need businesses to think about hosting donation events again.”
Rob says, all the proper safety measures are in place, and you should not be afraid to risk your health by donating blood or plasma. “Everyone will be taking the utmost precautions. People will be wearing masks, and we will be using sanitizers between donors. With all of the necessary precautions in place, people should feel safe coming to donate.”
Rob adds donating blood right now will meet critical needs beyond elective surgeries. “We are a level 1 trauma center, and we never know what those needs are going to be. It could be any one of us that might need blood, and we need to make sure we have blood stores for situations like that. In addition, blood is part of routine treatment for cancer patients. You just never know when there is going to be a situation in surgery or otherwise someone may have a need.”
Right now, there is a free COVID-19 antibody test in it for you when you donate.
Brooke May is with Vitalant, who will be doing the collecting for UCHealth Thursday. Brooke says, “At the beginning of June we started providing donors with free COVID-19 antibody tests with successful donations. So if anyone comes in and donates, they will get the antibody test of their blood to find out if they have had COVID-19 in the past.”
Again, you will need to make an appointment for Thursday's UCHealth blood drive through Vitalant. If you get an appointment, plan on wearing a mask and social distancing while you are donating. If you’re not able to get an appointment for Thursday’s blood drive at the UCHealth Administration building, you can still find a Vitalant location near you and book an appointment.
