In the coronavirus crisis, we can help in many ways — like donating blood

The coronavirus crisis has created critical shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) — especially for front-line healthcare workers. On a personal front, my wife and many others in our local neighborhood online group have been sewing masks with HEPA filter inserts (extracted from air filters). It’s a low volume operation, and the masks aren’t proper N95 quality, but people are feeling a bit powerless and isolated, and looking for ways to help.

Of course, we’re not powerless, and we can indeed help. The healthcare professionals ask us to do our part: social distancing and not touching our faces with dirty hands. But most of us in the U.S. can personally create one supply item that is also needed and not getting as much attention: blood.

I was speaking with my long-time friend Tom Nash, the Chief Procurement Officer at the American Red Cross, and he said that they need blood more than ever.

So, I’ll keep this short: Please give blood (or donate money) to the Red Cross! The blood donation page is here, and there’s lots of information about the process: safety, who can donate, types of donations, etc.

I found that my local blood drives were already subscribed and didn’t need me, but please roll the dice with the one near you, and hopefully you’ll be able to get in. But if we can get a few hundred (or thousand) donations, we can do our small part and help improve the availability of this critical supply.

Thanks for reading, and if you don’t mind, please share this request on social media or create your own outreach with the donation site URL.

Thank you,

Pierre Mitchell, Spend Matters Chief Research Officer