Blood Drive Scheduled for October 16th

By Diane Lee, Public Information Officer, Garrett County Health Department

The American Red Cross and the Garrett County Health Department will host a blood drive on Friday, October 16, from 12 to 5 p.m. at the Southern Garrett County Rescue Squad at 200 Baltimore Avenue, Oakland, MD.

All donors at this blood drive with a valid email address on file will automatically be entered to win a $1,000 Amazon.com Gift Card (Restrictions apply, see amazon.com/gc-legal). The Red Cross will be giving away five gift cards! (See Official Rules and terms and conditions of this Giveaway.)

“The need for blood is constant, and only volunteer donors can fulfill that need for patients in our community,” said Landon Custer, AmeriCorps Member at the Garrett County Health Department. “Nationwide, someone needs a unit of blood every 2 to 3 seconds and most of us will need blood in our lifetime.”

The Red Cross is currently performing antibody tests on all donations. This test screens for antibodies in the blood, which are formed when fighting an infection, like COVID-19. An antibody test assesses whether the immune system has responded to the infection, not if the virus is currently present. The results of the antibody test will be available to donors by logging in to their Blood Donor account on the Blood Donor App or online within one to two weeks after the donation.

Important: The Red Cross is not testing donors to diagnose illness, including COVID-19. Anyone feeling unwell for any reason, should postpone their donation. Individuals who believe they may be ill with COVID-19 should not present to donate until they are symptom free for 14 days and feeling well and healthy.

To donate blood, a person must be healthy, weigh at least 110 pounds, be at least 17 years old, (or 16 years old with parental consent form), and have not donated blood in the last 56 days.

Remember that using RAPIDPASS can save you up to 15 minutes.

Using RAPIDPASS is simple. On the day of the blood drive just:

1. Visit www.redcrossblood.org/RapidPass

2. Read the information

3. Answer the questions

4. Print the pass and bring along or email the pass to yourself and show on your smart phone

To schedule an appointment call Venessa at 301-334-7730 or 301-895-3111, or visit redcrossblood.org.