Texas is reopening and that is also true for hospital services. For two months, most hospitals stopped non-emergency and elective procedures to avoid overwhelming staff during the COVID-19 caseload. Hospitals are gradually resuming services and hoping to return to full capacity as summer gets underway. However, these are crisis times for the community blood supply and Carter BloodCare is forced to triage hospitals’ orders for blood. One-thousand donors are needed each day and the blood center is seeing an average of 600 a day for the past month.
Currently, Carter BloodCare’s ability to meet the urgent transfusion needs of patients is in severe jeopardy. Blood donations save lives. Without blood donors, there is no way to obtain the blood needed for patients because it cannot be manufactured.
The city of Rowlett is helping boost the local blood supply by hosting a two-day blood drive in multiple locations. The first drive will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, June 22, at two locations, Fire Station Number 4 at 6800 Rowlett Road and at Tom Thumb Grocery Store at 8805 Lakeview Parkway. Look for the Carter BloodCare buses on site.
The second day of blood drives will be 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, June 23, also in two locations, Fire Station Number 4 on Rowlett Road on a Carter BloodCare bus and inside the Rowlett Community Center at 5300 Main Street. For more information, or to schedule an appointment time, contact Amanda Mullaney at 972-463-3962.
While giving blood is still safe, Carter BloodCare continues to make social distancing and sanitization precautions top priority to keep donors healthy while assuring blood is on the shelves for patients requiring transfusions.
In the era of COVID-19, Carter BloodCare knows safety is top of mind for blood donors. These are some ways donors can do their part to help. To reduce wait times, donors can fill out a questionnaire online before they show up to donate blood. This means fewer people are waiting, making it easier to social distance. Carter BloodCare is limiting the number of donors on each bus and making an appointment is the best way to reduce donor lines.
For information on donor eligibility and appointments, call or text 800-366-2834 or visit carterbloodcare.org.
About Carter BloodCare: Carter BloodCare is an independent, community blood center providing transfusion resources to more than 180 medical facilities in 50-plus counties of north, central and east Texas. The nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization is one of the largest blood programs in Texas, delivering more than 450,000 blood products annually to meet hospitals’ requirements for their patients. Services include collection, processing, specialized laboratory testing, storage and distribution of blood and blood products. Tu centro de sangre comunitario