Blood Donations Needed

NEXT Blood Drive at the Chamber Office: Aug 21, 2020
Register HERE: https://www.connectlifegiveblood.org/index.cfm?group=op&expand=18325&zc=14092

Thank you for all you have done thus far in helping to communicate the importance of donating blood during the COVID-19 pandemic. I am writing today to update you on where we stand with supply for our local patients at local hospitals.

Starting in mid-March we initiated an aggressive recruitment and marketing campaign to bring in blood donors. Through these efforts we saw 2700 new blood donors and 1200 lapsed blood donors walk through our doors to help their community. Operationally we shifted collections to our Neighborhood Blood Donation Centers and utilized community locations in response to the 220+ blood drives that cancelled, 12 of which were hospital drives. We enhanced our safety and decontamination protocols according to the changing CDC guidelines, and adjusted collections based on hospital needs that at one point were down as much as 46%.

In my last update I had communicated that hospital need for blood had increased over 20%, and was actually higher than it was pre-pandemic. This is a trend we have continued to see. The increase in violence and traumas across WNY in recent weeks have caused a spike in hospital utilization of blood. That combined with a backlog of elective surgeries have put a strain on ConnectLife. Despite this, we have continued to keep our hospitals close to 100% of their stocking levels. Much of this is due to the overwhelming response we saw in May and June from donors.

At this point in time we need more than 150 donors every day to keep our hospital shelves stocked. It is the blood on the shelves that saves lives.

We have seen a decline in donations due to the extreme heat, the many people who continue to work remotely, and blood drives that continue to cancel. ConnectLife needs support in amplifying the message that blood donation is safe, blood donation is not a mass gathering, and all CDC and FDA guidelines are being followed as it pertains to social distancing, masks, and sanitization. We need regular donations from our community to keep our local blood supply stable.

At ConnectLife we are committed to continued advertising, PR and communications to drive in new donors and encourage increased donor frequency. How can you help? Please continue to share our important message publically through social media and the press, and encourage the community to donate and/or host a blood drive. Appointments can be made at www.ConnectLifeGiveBlood.org or by calling 716.529.4270. We are also taking limited walk-ins at this time.

Amanda Farrell  |  Director of Donor Recruitment
ConnectLife