In the spirit of giving, a blood donation would appear to be the most useful gift right now. Canadian Blood Services is appealing to all eligible donors to donate as soon as possible, as the country’s blood inventory is in critical condition.
Michael Betel, director of donor relations for south-central Ontario, said they’re at their lowest national blood inventory level since 2008.
“We’ve had over the past few months less walk-ins, more cancellations and more no-shows than we had expected,” Betel said.
He said in the past year they’ve had 133,000 appointment cancellations, 119,000 missed appointments, and less frequent walk-ins. The shortage they’re having isn’t a reflection of the need of blood, but of the lack of donors.
“We’re doing market research to figure out why this is happening. We figure we’re not top of mind,” Betel said. “People are busy in their jobs and in their families and it isn’t a priority in some cases. We do have a lot of very loyal blood donors that have come in throughout their lives and they continue to come in.”
He said what they need to do now is encourage different people to come in and increase the new donor base.
“The process is not scary. Our recommendation is for a new donor to come in with a family member or someone who’s donated before. And then you feel like you’re not doing it alone.”
Since putting out the appeal for more donors, they’ve narrowed the gap in their inventory. Betel says they’ve improved it by about a third and things are looking up.
“People have really come forward to support the Canadian Blood Services,” Betel said.
They need to have between a five and eight day supply of blood in their inventory to send to local hospitals. They were down to only three days’ worth. He added it gets to the point where they’re the most sensitive because they want to make sure the hospitals can provide elective surgeries on an ongoing basis and not have to delay any.
“A and O are the types we always ask for the most. But right now during this appeal we definitely need all blood types,” Betel said.
Approximately 52 per cent of Canadians say they, or a family member, have needed blood or blood products for surgery or for medical treatment. Every minute of every day someone in Canada needs blood.
“It’s a challenging time because people are spending time with family and travelling and we want to encourage people to come in especially next week,” Betel said.
To meet anticipated hospital demand, Canadian Blood Services regularly collects 17,000 units of blood per week. On top of that regular requirement, they now need an immediate 7,500 blood donations, to replenish their lower than required inventory.
Those looking for the nearest location to donate or to privately talk to a nurse about their eligibility can call 1-888-2-DONATE.
The Elmira Lions Club is holding their next blood donor clinic on October 31 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.
“The feeling you get to save a life can be a great feeling.”
