Preparing for the DNC: What does it take?

Denver has played host to the Pope and the G8, but both pale in comparison to the mass influx of visitors to our area this August for the highly anticipated Democratic National Convention (DNC). Current projections call for as many as 50,000 to 100,000 media, politicians and other visitors to converge on the city during the last two weeks of August. This population surge will not only leave hotels bursting at the seams and add to traffic congestion, but it can also lead to an increased need for healthcare assistance and even blood products.

Among the countless committees and ad hoc groups that are preparing medical response during the convention, most agree that the likely scenario will be treating visitors for dehydration and altitude sickness. However, there is also possibility for more serious injuries to occur.

Determining the number of blood products needed to support the population surge and the possibility of increased blood usage requires a great deal of coordination. First we spoke with other community blood centers in cities that previously hosted national political conventions to evaluate best practices and lessons learned. Next we attended Medical Advisory Group meetings of the DNC planning committee to participate in decision making as it relates to medical response. Simultaneously, we met with our local hospital partners to assess and make recommendations on blood product inventory levels leading up to the DNC. Finally, various internal meetings have taken place to calculate the number of additional units needed based on information from the aforementioned meetings; to determine which Denver area hospitals’ inventory to increase; and to develop tactics to attract additional blood donors to reach our elevated goal.

Taking all of the available information into account, we concluded that our weekly blood collection goal must grow during the first two weeks of August to be prepared for this historic event. To achieve this Bonfils will utilize our media partnerships to appeal to donors, produce targeted email campaigns to solicit donations from donors of certain blood types and include DNC messaging in appointment reminder calls. Other internal inventory management methods will be in place to ensure seven key Denver area hospitals have a sufficient blood product mix in inventory throughout the convention.

The DNC is a great opportunity for our community, but we must prepare for an increased need for blood. We will maintain an open dialogue with our healthcare partners as planning and needs may evolve. We also invite you to make a blood donation appointment this summer to help us reach our goal. To schedule an appointment please visit www.bonfils.org or call 303.363.2300 or 800.365.0006 opt. 2.

Click here to review Bonfils Blood Center's disaster response process.

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