Community Blood Center seeks donations from recovered COVID-19 patients

The Community Blood Center of Greater Kansas City is seeking donations of blood plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients.

The donations will build a public bank of plasma that may be used to treat other patients with advanced illness, according to the CBC.

During this process, the plasma is given to the patient with advanced illness in the hopes that the donor has produced antibodies that will help the patient recover more rapidly, and reduce the need for more intensive care unit beds and ventilators.

Donors must have tested positive for COVID-19 and be symptom-free for 14 days. One donation can be used to treat two to three patients struggling with severe cases of COVID-19. Interested donors can sign up at savealifenow.org/cpdonor.

The CBC has closed down all mobile blood drives, and is accepting blood donations by appointment at www.savealifenow.org. There are no walk-ins. More information is available at the website. The main CBC-GKC office is at 4040 Main St., Kansas City, Missouri, telephone 816-753-4040.