By Mallorie Rast
The need for blood donations has spiked back to near pre-COVID-19 outbreak levels, neatly corresponding with Canada’s 12th National Blood Donor Week, a week from June 8 – 14, observed to honor and thank people across the nation for doing their part in saving a life.
With the outbreak of COVID-19, blood donations experienced an unprecedented 20% increase in donations over the six week period of mid-March to April. However, those donations have since dropped, and currently the blood volume is resting around the 90 percentile mark. Now that hospitals are again able to conduct non-urgent and elective surgeries, physicians are calling for blood, stem cell and plasma donations to resume back to their normal levels.
“We cannot predict how many surgeries and medical procedures will occur, but we know we need donors to book and fill every available appointment over the next few weeks and months to ensure there is an adequate supply of blood products for patients in the longer term.” Rick Prinzen, chief supply chain officer and vice-president of donor relations noted in a Canadian Blood Services press release that clinics across the nation will be extending hours on regular donation days, as well as providing more days in which people can come to the clinics to donate.
In order to fill this gap, donors are asked to book their appointments in advance, wear masks and observe physical distancing as much as possible during their appointment, and to be prepared to answer questions regarding COVID-19 before donating.
Canada Blood Services will be hosting a donation clinic for the Kindersley area for pre-booked appointments only on August 31st. You can book an appointment now at https://blood.ca/en or with the mobile app available on GooglePlay and Apple’s AppStore, “GiveBlood.”
Has your life been impacted by receiving a blood donation? Kindersley Social wants to hear your story! Contact us at news@kindersley.ca
For the latest information and for more updates on everything Kindersley ‘Like’ the Kindersley Social Facebook page below…
Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.
