Nearly 57,000 appointments need to be filled for sufficent blood supply: Canadian Blood Services

Canadian Blood Services is sounding the alarm, saying it only has a few days supply for certain blood types as donations have been dropping steadily over the summer. Shauna Hunt reports

By Shauna Hunt and Meredith Bond

A woman whose life depends on blood donations is scared over what could happen to her as Canadian Blood Services (CBS) sounds the alarm over a recent supply shortage.

The organization said they are down to only four days worth of O positive and O negative blood type, the universal donor.

“We do like those numbers to be at least at eight days to make sure that we have a sufficient blood supply for our Canadian patients,” said Rachel Solomon, community development manager with Canadian Blood Services.

On Monday, CBS said there was only five days worth of B- blood types, along with six days worth of A- blood type and seven days worth of A+ and B+ blood types.

Joannie Cowie has received over 300 units of blood over the last four years, telling CityNews her life depends on the generosity of those who donate blood.

“It’s scary and if we are at the point of not having enough blood on hand, people are going to die. I don’t want to die, not that way,” said Cowie.

“I am so grateful to anybody who donates blood because many times, they have given me my life back.”

Canadian Blood Services says they have almost 60,000 appointments still available for the month of August and filling those spots will be critical to Canada’s blood supply.

“For this year to make sure we meet patient needs, we need at least 100,000 new blood donors,” said Solomon.

Currently, the number of people actually donating has hit a 10 year-low, having lost over 31,000 donors since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Solomon said there are a number of reasons why they have seen this drop in donors.

“Lots of people have been stuck at home due to the COVID isolations. And then there was travel restrictions. Lots of people couldn’t come in because we did have some big weather impacts as well,” said Solomon.

She added they also usually see a dip in the summertime, but especially this year. “More people are out and traveling. They’re getting back to hanging out with their friends, their families, and they’re just forgetting or they’re not making the time to donate.”

And according to CBS, one in every two people knows someone who needs blood or will need blood themselves. “There are many different reasons why people might need blood and I think many people forget that. It’s going to affect you in one way or another.”

She explains someone needing a hip replacement uses two blood donors, another patient undergoing treatment for leukemia could use up to eight donors or a major car accident might need up to 50 donations. “That’s a lot of people that we need coming out to donate to help save that life.”

When asked about the impact of Canadian Blood Services dropping their mask mandate, Solomon said that hasn’t made a big impact that they know of. “Although we no longer require masks, they are welcomed in our environments, and we are a friendly mask friendly environment. So we do provide N95s and medical masks to anybody that wants them.”

Solomon said they are in a precarious situation right now, but they do have a national inventory that would allow them “to ensure that patients are receiving the blood when they need it and where they need it.”

There are some restrictions still in place for men who have sex with men. They must be celibate for three months before donating but that is expected to be lifted at the end of September.

Canadian Blood Services’ new screening approach will be sexual behaviour-based and will apply to anyone who donates blood or plasma.

She added CBS has seen an uptick in appointments since their plea last week, but there are still many left to be filled. To sign up to donate, you can go to blood.ca

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