MOLINE, ILLINOIS (February 14, 2022) — Red Cross volunteers responded to two home fires in the Quad Cities and West Central Illinois from February 7 through today. Volunteers responded to incidents in Galesburg (Illinois) and Alexis (Illinois).
During this past week, the American Red Cross provided assistance to nine individuals, including four adults and five children with emergency financial assistance, food, relief items like toiletries, health, and mental health services, and one-on-one support to connect people to available recovery assistance.
If you or someone you know needs assistance after a home fire or local disaster, please call our dispatch line: (877) 597-0747.
Home fires are the nation’s most frequent disaster. Help keep your family safe by testing your smoke alarms and practicing your two-minute home fire escape drill — the amount of time that experts say you may have to get out before it’s too late. Teach children what a smoke alarm sounds like and talk about fire safety and what to do in an emergency.
For more information about home fire safety, please visit redcross.org/fire. Download our free Emergency app (search “American Red Cross” in app stores or go to redcross.org/apps). Children can also learn what to do during a home fire and other emergencies with free resources at redcross.org/YouthPrep.
National blood crisis
Since issuing its first-ever blood crisis alert, severe winter weather has further complicated efforts to rebuild the Red Cross blood supply. So far in 2022, approximately 600 blood-drives have been canceled across the country due to winter storms, forcing nearly 20,000 blood and platelet donations to go uncollected.
Make an appointment to give blood or platelets as soon as possible by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
Blood drive safety
Each Red Cross blood drive and donation center follows the highest standards of safety and infection control, and additional precautions — including face-masks for donors and staff, regardless of vaccination status — have been implemented to help protect the health of all those in attendance. Donors are asked to schedule an appointment prior to arriving at the drive.
Save time during donation
Donors can also save up to fifteen minutes at the blood drive by completing a RapidPass®. With RapidPass®, donors complete the pre-donation reading and health-history questionnaire online, on the day of donation, from a mobile device or computer. To complete a RapidPass®, follow the instructions at RedCrossBlood.org/RapidPass or use the Red Cross Blood Donor App.
To donate blood, individuals need to bring a blood donor card or driver’s license or two other forms of identification that are required at check-in. Individuals who are seventeen years of age in most states (sixteen with parental consent where allowed by state law), weigh at least 110 pounds, and are in generally good health, may be eligible to donate blood. High-school students and other donors eighteen years of age and younger also must meet certain height and weight requirements.
Health insights for donors
At a time when health information has never been more important, the Red Cross is screening all blood, platelet, and plasma donations from self-identified African-American donors for the sickle-cell trait. This additional screening will provide Black donors with an additional health insight and help the Red Cross identify compatible blood-types more quickly to help patients with sickle-cell disease who require trait-negative blood. Blood transfusion is an essential treatment for those with sickle-cell disease, and blood donations from individuals of the same race, ethnicity, and blood type have a unique ability to help patients fighting sickle cell disease.
Donors can expect to receive sickle-cell trait-screening results, if applicable, within one to two weeks through the Red Cross Blood Donor App and the online donor portal at RedCrossBlood.org.
About the American Red Cross of Illinois
The American Red Cross of Illinois serves 12.4 million people in 88 counties in Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri, including Adams, Bond, Boone, Brown, Bureau, Carroll, Cass, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Cook, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, DeKalb, De Witt, Douglas, DuPage, Edgar, Effingham, Fayette, Ford, Franklin, Fulton, Green, Grundy, Hamilton, Hancock, Henderson, Henry, Iroquois, Jasper, Jefferson, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Knox, LaSalle, Lake, Lee, Livingston, Logan, Macon, Macoupin, Marion, Marshall, Mason, McDonough, McHenry, McLean, Menard, Mercer, Montgomery, Morgan, Moultrie, Ogle, Peoria, Perry, Piatt, Pike, Putnam, Richland, Rock Island, Sangamon, Schuyler, Scott, Shelby, Stark, Stephenson, Tazewell, Vermillion, Warren, Washington, Whiteside, Will, Williamson Winnebago, and Woodford. Iowa: Lee, Muscatine, Scott, and Van Buren. Missouri: Clark, Lewis, Marion, and Ralls. The American Red Cross shelters, feeds, and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about forty percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit us at Redcross.org/Illinois or visit us on Twitter @RedCrossIL.
