As the holiday season enters full swing and COVID-19 cases continue to rise, Upstate hospitals face unique challenges in the coming months. Businesses, schools and places of worship have limited their capacity and moved many of their services online, while the health care industry has adapted and increased its ability to provide pandemic-related care in addition to its regular operations.
In a typical year, holiday closures and travel result in a drop among blood donors in the Upstate. In 2020, quarantines and closures among businesses, churches and colleges have made blood drives even more scarce, leaving blood donation organizations reaching out for more individual donors to provide necessary supplies to local hospitals.
In 2020 thus far, The Blood Connection — the exclusive provider of blood products to Prisma Health and Bon Secours local hospitals — has donated nearly 33,000 blood products to local facilities. While most of these donations are not related to the global pandemic, more than 1,100 of those products were convalescent plasma units, which are used as treatment for COVID-19. “Our goal is to make sure that everyone gets the opportunity to receive this potentially important treatment,” says Dr. Jeff Edenfield of Prisma Health. “With help from our communities, we can make sure there is enough supply for all.”
With fewer blood drives available, blood donation organizations have turned to doctors to help spread the word about the importance of donations through the holidays. Health care professionals have helped facilitate blood drives and increase awareness of blood donation centers. In turn, these organizations ensure that local hospitals have enough blood products to treat and save lives. “In the Upstate, we are blessed with incredibly generous community members who have been able to keep our plasma supplies available, but we need more donors,” says Dr. Hal Crosswell, director of adolescent and young adult cancer care at Bon Secours. “One donor can potentially help four patients, so we are grateful for everyone’s efforts to care for each other during this pandemic.”
GIVE THE GIFT OF LIFE FOR THE HOLIDAYS
As Upstate citizens look for ways to help their community for the holidays, blood donation organizations like The Blood Connection are providing an easy way to make a significant and lifesaving contribution. By providing permanent, safe and clean blood donation centers around the Upstate, as well as mobile blood drives every day, The Blood Connection makes it convenient for people in the Upstate to support their local hospitals and neighbors.
