About Us The Workers Committee for Blood Safety includes licensed nurses, phlebotomists, and blood drive staff with extensive experience working community and high school blood drives across the United States. We are committed to our life saving work, and serve as an independent voice for protecting donor and blood safety.
Our goal is to engage and educate sponsors of high school, church, and community blood drives, so they have the information and tools needed to take an active role promoting safety at their blood drives.
Key safety recommendations that we advocate for every blood drive are:
Assignment of at least one licensed nurse to every blood drive.
Adequate staffing of all blood drives.
At high school drives, enforcement of height and weight eligibility requirements for teen donors.
Thorough assessment and investigation of all major adverse reactions and injuries sustained at blood drives.
Blood drive setup that protects privacy and provides extra safety precautions at high schools.
Know your blood drive operator’s safety record so you are aware of problems that may arise.
In recent years, blood drive safety and staffing have become a point of contention between the American Red Cross and its workers because safety and staffing are such important elements of their working conditions. We believe that the American Red Cross has adopted a patchwork staffing system, where blood drives in some states may be staffed with two licensed nurses, while in other states, blood drives are operated without any licensed medical personnel on site. We believe that the American Red Cross should adopt, publicize and enforce a consistent policy for all blood drives that reflects best safety practices.
There are currently more than 20 unions that represent blood drive staff, which have ongoing collective bargaining disputes with the American Red Cross in locations across the United States.
