Summer vacation and unusually low turnouts at donation clinics have contributed to Canada’s most serious shortage in blood inventory since 2008. Canadian Blood Services has put out an urgent call for volunteers to give blood and eight clinics are being held in Centretown between Oct. 28 and Nov. 27.
“I donate blood because I’ve seen the ways it can have a real positive impact,” says Jared Ayer, a 22-year-old law student at Carleton University. “As the brother of a nurse, I’ve heard first-hand how big of a role blood donations have in saving lives on the ground level.”
According to the CBS website, 52 per cent of Canadians say they or a family member have needed blood or blood products for a medical treatment.
To meet the regular demand for blood, the service needs to collect 17,000 units of blood per week. 7,500 extra units are needed immediately due to the recent shortage. Each donor’s contribution at a clinic equals a single unit of blood.
“By the end of October, we need to collect at least 50,000 more blood donations,” says Adrienne Silver, communications specialist at CBS.
Throughout the next month, the clinics will be held at several locations including 350 Albert Street, L’Esplanade Laurier, Jean Pigott Hall and the Ottawa Convention Centre. Most of the clinics run during the morning although there are several afternoon options.
All Centretown clinics are collecting blood and every blood type is needed. However, donors with type O and type A blood are in special demand.
The current Ebola crisis has also potentially been a factor in the decreased donor rates. CBS released a statement on Oct. 15 saying that the risk of infection both to the Canadian blood supply and to donors is low at present but will be continually monitored. Anyone who may have come into contact with an Ebola patient is asked to not donate blood for at least 28 days.
“Without the help of Canadians we may have difficulty meeting the expected hospital demand across the country,” Mark Donnison, Canadian Blood Services vice-president of donor relations, said in a recent news release. “We are committed to doing everything that we can to bring new blood donors into the system and encourage current donors to regularly donate to ensure we don’t find ourselves in the same situation in the future.”