One of the best ways we can keep ourselves calm during the COVID-19 pandemic is to be proactive about serving other people in whatever ways are available to us. In an effort to counter my own frustration and anxiety, I want to highlight something I feel strongly about that will have a quick and major impact for someone in your community.
Platelet donation is something I've done for the last year. Its relatively easy, costs $0, and fills a CRUCIAL gap for chemotherapy patients. Right now, the Red Cross "faces a severe blood shortage due to an unprecedented number of [cancellations] during this coronavirus outbreak." For those patients who already have a compromised immune system, not being able to get a platelet donation when they need it is a double hit.
If you're curious about how platelet donations help, this is a great post that explains everything, but I'll try to address a couple concerns you might have about platelet donation during a pandemic.
Blood donation is already a sterile process, so from a donor perspective, not much is different between donating during a pandemic and donating during normal times. Unwell or ill individuals are automatically disqualified from donating blood products, so (in theory) you should not find any sick individuals at your donation center. Additionally, social distancing shouldn't be a problem because the apheresis machines used for platelet donation are big suckers and take up a lot of space. Other than your phlebotomist, you should be able to maintain a 6 ft distance from other donors.
For the actual donation, you can expect the appointment to last 1.5 - 2.5 hours depending on your blood pressure and vein quality. The apheresis machine will draw blood from one arm, separate the platelets, and then return most of your blood (plus some saline) back to you via the other arm. Because you have a needle in each arm, you can't move your arms during the time you're hooked up to the machine, so the Red Cross has TVs set up at each donor station so you can watch a movie or show while you donate. It may take some experimentation to figure out what works best for you as a donor. I wasn't able to give a full donation my first two times, but it got better each time and now it's no big deal.
If you want to learn more or book an appointment to donate, you can visit https://www.redcrossblood.org/giveplatelets.html.
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