Out for blood
Vitalant phlebotomists Emily and Billy assist Shoshone News-Press reporter Josh McDonald during his blood donation at the Kellogg Elks on Tuesday. McDonald was equal parts excited for the ability to donate, as well as get his blood tested for COVID-19 antibodies.
Courtesy photo
KELLOGG — The Kellogg Elks once again played host to another successful blood drive earlier this week.
With COVID-19 making conditions less than ideal for locals, they still came out in strong numbers to support the drive which was hosted by Vitalant.
Vitalant’s Joseph Fairbanks was really happy with the turnout and reported that the drive yielded 45 units of blood from 40 donors.
“You guys knocked it out of the park in Kellogg,” Fairbanks said. “That is very helpful during this pandemic. It was just a great job by the community and is extremely appreciated.”
Each donor will also have their blood tested for COVID-19 antibodies as a courtesy from Vitalant, who analyzes the same they received and has results back to the donor in roughly 10-14 days.
Vitalant’s North Idaho Territory Manager Rob Balison is hoping that having access to the antibody test would encourage folks to come out and donate vitally needed blood and in the case of Tuesday’s drive, it worked.
“Since the end of March, we’ve had to cancel a lot of blood drives due to social distancing on buses and we’ve been relying on community blood drives that have inside setups, like the one in Kellogg at the Elks to sustain our blood supply at maintainable levels,” Balison said. “The testing has helped increase the turnouts at most drives. All results are confidential and cannot be released to the public in accordance with HIPAA regulations. It does however, let the donor know whether they have been exposed to COVID-19.”
The demand for blood is still high as one in seven hospitalized patients require blood, and with people being more cautious than usual this was really a successful drive.
“Most people don’t realize that there is already a strong patient need for blood at the hospitals we service,” Ballison said. “It’s not necessarily COVID-19 related, it’s a need that is always there and doesn’t take a break. The Silver Valley Community is amazing, thank you all for your support.”
Founded in 1943, Vitalant is one of the nation’s oldest and largest nonprofit transfusion medicine organizations and provides blood and special services to patients in more than 1,000 hospitals across 40 different states.
The next Vitalant Community Blood Drive in Kellogg will be on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at the Kellogg Elks.
Appointments are encouraged and can be made by calling 1-877-258-4825 and following the prompts.