ALBANY COUNTY — The COVID-19 epidemic has created the need for a new type of blood-donor volunteer. Now the American Red Cross of Eastern New York is asking anyone who is healthy, over the age of 18, and feels comfortable spending time at a blood drive to sign up to be a blood screener.

These volunteers take the temperatures of blood donors before the donor enters the Red Cross’s Everett Road site in Albany. 

The site, at 33 Everett Road in Albany, is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., on Tuesday and Thursday. 

Personal protective equipment and training is provided for volunteers, said Erin Musto, a volunteer recruitment specialist with the Red Cross. The Red Cross prefers volunteers to sign up for a full shift, which runs four to five hours. 

Everybody is taking the same precautions, Musto said; employees also have to have their temperatures taken. Social-distancing guidelines are followed, and work areas are sanitized after every donation. Blood is still very much needed and there is no known case of a respiratory illness being transmitted through blood, she said.

The Red Cross has opened up an expedited volunteer registration, Musto said, so, if someone does want to volunteer, he or she could be doing so in the next few days.

The Red Cross is encouraging people who plan on donating blood to first make an online appointment, Musto said; that way, 20 people aren’t showing up at once. And, she asks, if someone doesn’t donate now, to set an appointment for a month from now, so there isn’t a shortage of blood supplies.

At the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, because schools and colleges shut down, the blood supply got low — but since then, donations have leveled off. Musto said. 

Those interested in volunteering should contact Lauren Whitman at lauren.whitman@redcross.org or call her at 518-419-3529.

Locally, an appointment-only blood drive is slated for Tuesday, May 5, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., at the Guilderland Public Library. Donors must call the Red Cross in advance at 518-458-8111 to make an appointment.