WINGHAM – With warmer weather around the corner, more people will be travelling and adventuring, which can mean one or more of the following may happen: blood donations will decline, demand for blood will be up, or both or neither will occur.
Maureen Macfarlane, community development manager with Canadian Blood Services, says inventory levels at Canadian Blood Services are already dipping below ideal levels.
“We are seeing kind of a dip in our inventory levels,” she said.
As mentioned earlier, a mix of increased demand and lower donations is not ideal for Canadian Blood Services, which ensures Canadian patients have reliable access to safe, high-quality blood, plasma, stem cells, and organs and tissues.
In order to accomplish this, Canadian Blood Services undertakes a number of activities, including conducting blood donation clinics across Canada, including one in Wingham on Friday, May 12.
“We’re really asking people to come out, if they’re eligible, to come out and donate,” said Macfarlane.
She is also asking those who have already made an appointment to honour that appointment, if possible. Macfarlane noted that the Wingham clinic is well-booked right now, but sometimes there are no-shows.
“And that affects us reaching our collection targets,” she said.
Macfarlane said everyone understands that “life happens” and last-minute cancellations are necessary. She encourages those who need to cancel their appointment to do so as soon as possible, which will allow someone else to potentially take that appointment.
“We do need people to come out and donate,” she said.
Shelf life
Contrary to popular belief, collected blood has a shelf life.
Blood collected at clinics is fractionated off into three parts: red blood cells, plasma and platelets.
Red blood cells have a shelf life of 42 days, platelets have a shelf life of seven days, and platelets can be frozen and saved for up to one year.
“It is a fresh product and it does have a shelf life,” said Macfarlane, adding that is why it is important for donate when they are eligible.
Males are able to donate once every 56 days, and females once every 86 days.
The reason for the difference in frequency of donations has to do with iron stores.
“Females generally use up iron a little bit faster than men,” said Macfarlane, citing a study conducted by Canadian Blood Services. “We don’t want to deplete our donors of their iron stores, plus patients in need, need nice iron-rich blood.”
Inventory levels
Macfarlane said Canadian Blood Services likes to keep between five and eight days of inventory, depending on the blood type.
As of writing, only three of the eight blood types – AB positive, AB negative and B positive – have an ideal level of inventory, with B negative and O negative having only two days of inventory.
“We’ve got more Canadians that are able to travel with the family and friends, making it really difficult to find time to donate. And then we’ve got the slight increase with hospital demand, so that is causing the national inventory to drop below optimal levels,” said Macfarlane.
Those looking to donate can do so at any blood donation centre across Canada; you don’t have to go to the same one each time.
“As long as you’re eligible, you can donate at any center across Canada,” said Macfarlane.
How to donate
The next blood donor clinic in Wingham is on Friday, May 12 from 12:30-6:30 p.m. at Maitland River Community Church (414 Josephine St.).
For available appointments, or to book an appointment at another nearby clinic, visit blood.ca or call 1-888-2DONATE (1-888-236-6283). You can also book an appointment on the GiveBlood app, available on all mobile devices.
