Doctors at Memorial University Medical Center issued a public plea Friday, April 24, for plasma donations from anyone in the Savannah area who contracted COVID-19 and recuperated fully from the illness.

After selecting seven COVID-19 patients being treated at Memorial who might benefit from plasma transfusions from recuperated donors — whose coronavirus-fighting antibodies could assist those still suffering from the disease — Memorial doctors asked for blood donations from anybody who was officially diagnosed with the illness and has completely recovered.

"We have experience from other diseases that we’ve helped manage by giving people antibodies from other persons, and we call that convalescent plasma therapy," said Dr. Stephen Thacker, explaining that Memorial is participating in a nationwide Mayo Clinic trial to test the efficacy of this treatment for COVID-19 patients.

At this point, plasma donors for the trial can only be people who have tested positive for COVID-19, then had at least 14 days of recuperation time before testing negative for the illness, according to Thacker. Although asymptomatic coronavirus carriers might also develop therapeutic antibodies, it is currently unfeasible to identify them.

"We’re still in a position where we do not have enough testing capacity to really target asymptomatic individuals," Thacker said. "If we had no issues around the capacity for testing, that’d be a great solution."

According to Dr. Todd Bruker, Memorial’s head of pathology and laboratory medicine, potential donors would also be questioned about their medical and travel history, while their blood type would have to be specifically matched with patients who are severely suffering from COVID-19.

"Usually they’re quite sick," Bruker said of coronavirus patients whose doctors are considering treating them with convalescent plasma. "They’ve decided that this is the best option. ... We also feel it’s very safe."

Bruker said eligible plasma donors would have to provide about a half-pint of blood in the same manner as ordinary blood-donation techniques, while noting that convalescent plasma is in high demand nationwide.

"The supply just isn’t there yet" to begin treating Memorial’s COVID-19 patients with convalescent plasma, Bruker said.

Currently, Memorial is treating 26 patients for COVID-19, indicating a steady level of locals who are contracting the disease, according to Thacker.

"That number has been about the same really for now over a week and a half, which is a reassuring trend," Thacker said, while noting that a recent order by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to relax emergency measures aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19 is "fraught with some risks."

Memorial has diagnosed 58 confirmed cases since the pandemic began.

Thacker encouraged anyone eligible to donate blood for the convalescent plasma therapy trial to contact a hotline set up by Memorial’s parent company, HCA Healthcare, at 1-833-582-1971.