Pretty sure they have always taken a more active part in emergency care during wartime, but if they are actively engaged in collecting plasma, then there is nothing wrong with that. But remember, pandemic or not, we are essentially engaged in a war.
Here is a link to what they did during WWII:
https://www.redcross.org/content/dam/redcross/National/history-wwii.pdf
It is all support services. They provided services to help servicemen communicate with their families, understand regulations, etc. They provided volunteers to VA hospitals to provide recreation services, nurses, and nurse's aids. Military hospitals have a red cross on them to designate medical care, but it isn't the American Red Cross that runs them. That red cross symbol in combat was started by the International Red Cross to designate a medic and wounded soldiers, not as a symbol of the organization:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_medic#Red_Cross,_Red_Crescent,_and_Red_Star_of_David
According to the charter of the American Red Cross, their purpose is:
- to fulfill the provisions of the Geneva Conventions, to which the United States is a signatory, assigned to national societies for the protection of victims of conflict,
- to provide family communications and other forms of support to the U.S. military, and
- to maintain a system of domestic and international disaster relief, including mandated responsibilities under the National Response Framework coordinated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
They do seem to be taking an active role in plasma collection. There isn't an armed conflict to protect victims or to support the U.S. military. I am not aware of any requests of them from FEMA.
I asked what you believe they should be doing because I can't see anything that the Red Cross is built for other than blood and plasma collection that they should be doing. If they try to provide volunteers for support work in hospitals, they would probably just get in the way and use PPE that the medical professionals need. People are scared and feel as though they have no control over the situation. They are looking to blame someone for not doing more, even though they don't know what the "more" should be. If there is some actual activity that you or your FB friends believe that the Red Cross should be doing, reach out to them. You might find out that they currently are doing it, can't do it, or might inspire them to begin doing it.