If you or someone you know have recovered from COVID-19, you may be able to help patients suffering from coronavirus today. It’s as simple as donating your plasma.
At Baptist Health, we use convalescent plasma (plasma collected from people who have recovered from coronavirus), to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients. Antibodies present in recovered patients have lifesaving potential, helping boost a patient’s immune system so that they can better fight the virus.
At this time, we have dozens of patients across our system who qualify to receive plasma infusions as part of their treatment. However, due to the high demand for plasma across the state, our blood bank, OneBlood, has put out an urgent call for donations.
Patients with a positive antibody test or those with a positive COVID-19 Nasopharyngeal swab who have not had symptoms for 14 days are eligible to donate.
Donating plasma is similar to donating blood and convalescent plasma donations are needed immediately. Please share this information with others, and if you have recovered from coronavirus, please consider donating your plasma.
Know these facts about convalescent plasma donation:
- The treatment is approved by the FDA.
- Donors must answer screening questions and be symptom free for 14 days.
- Donating plasma does not diminish your own immunity.
- You can donate more than once, following a required waiting period.
How to Donate:
To donate your plasma with OneBlood all you need to do is visit https://www.oneblood.org/ to schedule an appointment. You can also text CCP to 63928. An appointment is required. You will need to be at least 14 days symptom free of the virus and will need to provide a copy of your positive test result, or a letter from the hospital or lab service confirming a positive COVID-19 test result.
