Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
WORLAND — The Worland Community Blood Drive is slated for Tuesday, Oct. 13 from 11:15 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. at the Worland Senior Center.
Walk-ins are welcome but appointments may be made by calling the local organizer, Judy Council at 347-9388 or going to bloodhero.com with the code: worland.
Persons may fill out the health history questionnaire early to save some time the day of the drive. Go to http://www.vitalant.org/health.
Masks are required for those donating blood, as well as Vitalant staff.
Blood donors are not tested for coronavirus. Do not donate blood if you are sick.
COVID SURVIVOR PLASMA
Vitalant is collecting plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19. Called “convalescent plasma,” it contains antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which can be given to patients currently fighting COVID-19.
Survivors must be symptom free for more than 28 days). Plasma donors must fill out the questionnaire at http://www.vitalant.org/covidfree and when they make their appointment they need to let Vitalant know they would like to donate plasma.
The Food and Drug Administration is allowing the transfusion of convalescent plasma as an investigational treatment. It’s currently the only antibody treatment available for COVID-19 patients. Vitalant is working with hospitals to collect, process and distribute the plasma for treatment in patients with active, serious COVID-19 infections.
Additionally, Vitalant Research Institute is developing technologies to detect and quantify virus-fighting antibodies to COVID-19.
According to Vitalant, COVID-19 convalescent plasma has not been approved or licensed by the FDA; COVID-19 convalescent plasma has been authorized by the FDA under an emergency use authorization (EUA); COVID-19 convalescent plasma is authorized only for the duration of the declaration that circumstances exist justifying the authorization of the emergency use of drugs and biological products during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A plasma donation only takes about an hour; however, with the medical screening and review of your health history, you should plan for about 2 hours total. We use a specialized process called apheresis that allows Vitalant to separate and collect only specific blood components—like plasma—while safely returning the remaining components to the donor.