Public responding to appeals for blood donations

LACONIA — John Morin, a local business owner who is active in the community, was more than willing to do his part when he was asked if he could help organize a Red Cross blood drive recently.

Morin, who runs My Coffee House on Court Street, arranged for the drive to be held on April 14 at the Leavitt Park Clubhouse in Lakeport. He helped with the setup of the hall and the cleanup afterward.

In addition, he donated pastries from his coffee shop, while Coca-Cola, one of his suppliers, provided bottled juice and water.

The drive resulted in 56 pints of blood being donated, Morin said.

The Red Cross has been putting out appeals for blood donations during the coronavirus pandemic, and the public has been responding, according to Kelly Isenor, a Red Cross spokesperson.

“We’ve had such a response that we can meet most of our immediate needs,” Isenor said. “But we have to remember that the need for blood will still be great in a number of weeks from now when this (pandemic) is over.”

Every 2 seconds somebody needs blood, and it takes 13,000 pint of blood a day to meet hospital needs nationwide, she pointed out.

While hospitals have canceled elective surgeries during the COVID-19 crisis, Isenor said blood transfusions are necessary in emergency surgeries, as well as in other medical procedures which are continuing to occur. For example, she said one-quarter for all blood donated is used in connection with cancer treatments.

Isenor acknowledged that running blood drives at a time of heightened concerns over spreading infection and the need for social distancing is challenging.

For example, many venues typically used for blood drives — school and college gymnasiums, community centers, and retirement community activity halls — are now closed.

And because social distancing limits the number of people who can be donating blood at any one time, an online appointment system has been set up on the Red Cross website that donors must use to schedule a time to come to the blood drive site.

Appointments to donate at a place nearby can be made by going to www.redcrossblood.org, entering a ZIP code in the designated field, and clicking on “make your appointment.”

As an indication of the public’s response to the call to donate blood, three blood drives scheduled to take place locally within the next week — today in Gilford, Thursday in Meredith, and Friday in Laconia — are all booked. Openings are available for blood drives on May 26 and May 28 in Belmont and Laconia, respectively.

Once blood donors arrive at the blood drive site they will have their temperature taken outside and be given sanitizing gel to use on their hands. When they go through the registration process in addition to the customary questions they will be asked about any recent travel, and whether they have recently been exposed to someone who is either COVID-positive or COVID-symptomatic.

As an additional precaution, all blood donors will be required to wear a face covering, Isenor said.

Those who do not have internet access and want information about donating blood can call 1-800-REDCROSS.