Blood donations urgently needed; donating blood exempt from shelter-in-place restrictions

The Stanford Blood Center urges those who are healthy, and who haven’t traveled to high-risk countries or been in contact with someone who has COVID-19, to donate blood.

- By Krista Conger

A blood donor is assisted by phlebotomist Jodi Martinez at the Stanford Blood Center's location in Campbell. Blood centers around the country are warning of devastating shortages in all blood types if the lull in donations continues.  
Stanford Blood Center

Blood donations are urgently needed as corporate blood drives are canceled and residents shelter in place to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus responsible for the respiratory illness known as COVID-19. 

Potential donors are exempt from the shelter-in-place order, which does not cover essential health services such as those provided by Stanford Blood Center

“While it may seem as if the world has stopped — and indeed, in certain sectors, it has — we as a community cannot forget about hospital patients in critical need,” said Harpreet Sandhu, executive director of Stanford Blood Center, in a statement posted on the center’s website. “Even with a shelter in place in effect, individuals in our community — potentially even individuals we know personally — will continue to be in car accidents, need emergency organ transplants, give birth to babies in critical condition, and need chemotherapy. In short, there will still be lives that need saving.” 

Blood centers around the country are warning of devastating shortages in all blood types if the lull in donations continues. On March 12, officials from the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services urged Americans to turn out in force in a joint press release from America’s Blood Centers, the American Red Cross, the Armed Services Blood Program and AABB, formerly known as the American Association of Blood Banks. 

 “If we don’t have people coming in to donate now, we are going to have a larger problem,” said Jenn Wagner, communications manager for the Stanford Blood Center. “We want people to know that it is very safe to donate blood. Every potential donor is given a mini-physical exam when they first arrive, and we take a medical history. We have also made social distancing part of our practice wherever possible and take every preventive measure to keep our donors safe.”

She said that people who are healthy and meet all other criteria for donation — and who haven’t traveled to a high-risk country or been in direct contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case — are likely eligible to donate blood. 

She added, “People older than 65, or those with health conditions that put them at a heightened risk of infection, should be cautious and well informed of current recommendations from public health and government agencies, but are able to donate if they meet all standard criteria for donation.” 

Potential donors can call Stanford Blood Center at (888) 723-7831 or visit its website to make an appointment to donate. In addition, Stanford Blood Center is hosting upcoming mobile blood drives on March 19 and April 3 on the Stanford campus, and on March 25, March 27 and  March 30 in the atrium of Stanford Hospital at 300 Pasteur Drive in Palo Alto. Information about additional blood drives can be found here.

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Stanford Medicine is an integrated academic health system comprising the Stanford School of Medicine and adult and pediatric health care delivery systems. Together, they harness the full potential of biomedicine through collaborative research, education and clinical care for patients. For more information, please visit med.stanford.edu.

2023 ISSUE 3

Exploring ways AI is applied to health care