About Dunwoody reporter. (Sandy Springs, GA) 20??-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 2021)
DUN 12 | Commentary Facebook.com/TheReporterNewspapers ■ twitter.com/Reporter_News H/orfk IChowCm Carol Niemi is a marketing consultant who lives on the Dunwoody-Sandy Springs line and writes about people whose lives inspire others. Contact her at worthknowingnow@gmail.com. Northside Hospital has announced an urgent need for COVID-19 convales cent plasma (CCP), the clear liquid part of the blood from recovered COVID-19 patients containing potentially life-sav ing virus antibodies. Granted Emergency Use Authoriza tion (EUA) by the FDA last August, CCP is given to hospitalized COVID-19 pa tients as soon after diagnosis as possi ble and has helped more than 100,000 sick Americans. But demand is up, and supply is down. What gives? According to Carrie Cox, execu tive director of Atlanta Blood Servic es (ABS), a major local supplier of CCP, only 3% of eligible donors normally give blood. “We’ve also seen a higher rate of can cellations [of donor appointments] be cause of potential illness,” Cox said, “and many people are staying home.” All that’s required to donate is that you: are age 17 or older; weigh at least 110 pounds; have had a positive CO- VID-19 diagnosis; are at least 14 days without symptoms; pass a hemoglo bin test to assure a healthy iron blood count; have normal blood pressure, pulse and temperature; are in gener al good health and have not been vac cinated. “There’s no upper age limit,” said Cox, “but if you’re over 70, we’ll reach out to your doctor to be sure it’s safe for you to donate.” Prime donors are people who have recovered in the last 14 to 90 days be cause they have the highest level of an tibodies. Most needed are blood types B and AB, with rare AB- the universal plasma donor. Surprisingly, since the virus is not transmitted through blood, you can donate even if you’re still COVID posi tive but no longer have symptoms. The whole process takes about two-and-a- half hours, with about two hours for the withdrawal. How to join the local plasma donors who are helping to fight COVID-19 “There’s one big needle stick, and you have to keep your arm straight and still,” said Cox. “We keep you warm and feed you snacks while you watch a movie on a Kindle on a little TV cart.” For most donations, Atlanta Blood Services uses an apheresis ma chine, with one nee dle and two tubes that withdraw your plas ma and return the rest of the blood to you. Unlike a whole- blood donation, which yields only one plas ma dose per donation, the apheresis machine yields up to four doses per donation, enabling one donor to help four patients. SPECIAL Dr. Lonnie Herzog, left, donates convalescent plasma while getting moral support from son and fellow physician Alex.
