Members of The Villages Parrotheads are preparing to do their part to help saves lives through an upcoming blood drive.
OneBlood’s Big Red Bus will be at The Villages Polo Fields on Wednesday, Nov. 11 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. for a Veterans Day Blood Drive. All donors will receive a free limited-edition Veterans Day T-shirt, a $10 eGift card and a wellness checkup, which includes a COVID-19 antibody test and blood pressure, pulse, temperature and iron count, along with a cholesterol screening.
For details or appointments, visit www.oneblood.org/villages or call 1-888-936-6283. Appointments will be honored and walk-ins are welcome.
For those concerned about donating blood, the Parrotheads want potential donors to know that the U.S. Surgeon General and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have said it remains safe to attend blood drives and donate blood.
All blood centers are regulated by the FDA and must follow strict guidelines on how they operate. OneBlood meets all FDA guidelines and all team members follow strict safety protocols including:
- All OneBlood staff are required to wear masks.
- All blood donors are asked to wear a mask. If a blood donor doesn’t have a mask, one will be supplied to the donor.
- All OneBlood phlebotomists wear medical gloves that are changed for each donation.
- Blood donors should follow the guidelines for wearing masks in the county where the blood drive is taking place.
- All donor-touched areas and equipment are disinfected after every donation. This includes donor beds, registration tablets, blood-pressure cuff and hemoglobin sensors.
- A sterile collection set is used for every donation.
- All donors receive mini-physicals that include temperature checks to make sure they are healthy and well on the day of donation.
- Only people who are healthy are eligible to donate blood.
OneBlood also has implemented additional social distancing safety protocols. In fact, only a certain number of people will be permitted on the Big Red Bus at any one time. Donors will be asked to provide their cell phone numbers so they can wait in their vehicles or outside the bloodmobile. They will be called when it is their turn to come aboard the bus to donate blood.
Generally healthy people age 16 or older who weigh at least 110 pounds can donate blood. A photo ID is required.
To learn more about the importance of blood donation and how donors can target the power of their blood type, visit oneblood.org or call 1-888-9DONATE (1-888-936-6283).
