Your blood can save lives!

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Ruben Rios
  • 514 Air Mobility Wing
Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. --  In a Coronavirus world, it is extremely important that we not only remain vigilant in maintaining healthy practices for ourselves but also that we look to help others in any way we can. This includes maintaining a distance of at least six-feet from each other, wearing a face mask, and washing hands.

But did you know your blood could actually also help others in these crazy times?

Donating blood has always been incredibly important to society. Around the world, people require the generosity of others to receive life-saving blood to recover from an illness or injury.

With the onset of COVID-19, donations of blood across the country were put on hold in an effort to flatten the curve of the virus.

“As hospitals resume surgical procedures and patient treatments that were temporarily paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic, donors are urged to give now to ensure blood products are readily available for patients,” according to the Red Cross Website. “Donating blood products is essential to community health and the need for blood products is constant.”

You may be wondering: “but what if I was exposed to Coronavirus?” Believe it or not, you may be an even larger asset to the medical field.

According to the Red Cross website, “the plasma in your blood may contain COVID-19 antibodies that can attack the virus. This convalescent plasma is being evaluated as a possible treatment for currently ill COVID-19 patients, so your donation could help save the lives of patients battling this disease.”

As someone who contracted and recovered from Coronavirus, I also felt the responsibility to donate as soon as I found out it was a possibility. In my case, my A+ blood type determined that I would participate in a whole blood donation, which is frequently given to trauma patients and people undergoing surgery and which took approximately one hour to donate.

There are different types of donations depending on your blood type as well as the location in which you are donating but all are equally important!

Such donations include whole blood donation, power red donation, platelet donation, and plasma donation.

The process is simple! Simply call up your local blood center to set up an appointment. They usually require you to bring a form of identification and be in good health.

Gyms, indoor dining, and many of the luxuries and entertainments that seem so forgone have still not returned but we need to do our part to help our communities which will in turn return things back to normal.

“We need people to start turning out in force to give blood,” said Dr. Peter Marks director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.