Community Blood Center of the Ozarks coronavirus update

March 17, 2020 – Community Blood Center of the Ozarks (CBCO), the sole supplier of blood and plasma to patients at more than 40 area healthcare facilities, is urging healthy individuals to continue to donate blood at an upcoming CBCO donor center or blood drive in the region.

They are calling on donors and community partners to help keep adequate blood reserves available by maintaining a regular schedule of giving.

Since last week, over a dozen scheduled blood drives have been postponed or cancelled altogether, resulting in the loss of hundreds of previously scheduled or future blood donations.

As mobile blood drives continue to postpone their blood drives, CBCO is focusing on increasing donations at CBCO Donor Centers in Springfield, Joplin, Bentonville and Springdale. Here are some points the public needs to know.

• • CBCO has increased our already stringent standards to ensure the health of our donors and our  employees. These include:
  • Sanitation stations at various points in the donation process.
  • Increased availability of personal protective equipment for donor use. These will include hand gel, social distancing protocols, along with protective gloves when handling objects used by the public.
  • A temperature check of potential donors will be administered both when a donor comes in to give and at the physical findings check that is required for each donor.
  • An increase in aseptic procedures that will ensure a clean environment for your donation.
  • CBCO is strongly urging donors to make an appointment to give at https://donate.cbco.org/donor/schedules/centers. Appointments will help us to make certain that the donor’s experience will be as smooth as possible by better managing donor flow at donor centers and blood drives.
  • Donors are also encouraged to use the QuickPass feature which allows you to begin the blood donation process from the comfort of your home or office, saving you time at the blood drive  Find QuickPass on the CBCO website at https://www.cbco.org/quickpass/.

It is also important to note that Community Blood Center of the Ozarks donors are the sole suppliers of blood to patients at more than 40 area hospitals. It is important now more than ever for local donors to provide relief and their lifesaving gift for local patients.