BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - WAFB and Our Lady of the Lake have partnered up to hold a three-day blood drive to help replenish supplies needed for the communities that have been so greatly impacted by Hurricane Laura.
The blood drive will begin Wednesday, Sept. 16 and will continue through Friday. Dozens of locations are available to make it easy for you to contribute.
Why is it so important?
As Louisiana struggles to recover from Hurricane Laura, the continuing issues presented by the pandemic are making that effort more difficult.
“Due to the impact of COVID-19, certain treatments that were put on hold are no longer elective, but necessary,” officials with Our Lady of the Lake explain. “This means we need an adequate blood supply to meet patient needs. An unprecedented number of blood drive cancellations during this pandemic has caused inventories to rapidly decline.”
Before you donate, there are a few things you should know:
- Eat before donating
- Wear a face covering
- Bring a picture ID
- Be at least 17-years-old or 16 with parental consent
- Bring reading glasses
If you’re concerned that donating blood could increase your risk of getting COVID-19, don’t be.
“The FDA and AABB has stated that you are not at risk of contracting coronavirus from blood donation,” officials say. “Donating is a safe process and people should not hesitate to give or receive blood or platelets. We have implemented additional precautions to ensure safety of our donors and staff. Our Lady of the Lake Blood Donor Center is implementing several safety measures as an extra precaution to protect donors from potential COVID-19 exposure, limiting the number of donors on mobile buses, spacing beds to follow social distancing practices, and more stringently disinfecting surfaces and equipment. This is on top of the standard safety protocols of wiping down donor-touched areas and frequent changing of gloves and hand disinfection after each donation, among other practices."
The need is great and we need YOU to help make a difference.
“During a crisis, we see the best of humanity when Americans step up and help their neighbors," officials say.
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