Donors are needed to shore up local blood stores.
Canadian Blood Services asks eligible Red Deer and area residents to book an appointment to give blood as we approach the Thanksgiving long weekend.
Canadian Blood Services says Red Deer needs 130 units each week to meet hospital demand. More may be needed during long weekends when blood donations may be down at the same time that demand rises due to more traumas.
Over the next six weeks in Red Deer, Canadian Blood Services needs 800 people to book blood donation appointments to meet hospital demand. That’s enough blood to treat 100 cancer patients who could require up to eight blood donations a week for treatment.
“The need for blood is constant and it often takes many blood donations to save one patient,” says Susan Matsumoto, director of Donor and Clinic Services, Canadian Blood Services, Alberta/N.W.T.
Long weekends are a difficult time to collect blood because people are away or busy with family activities. Meanwhile, the demand for blood and blood products remains strong due in part to higher traffic on the roads, which can result in more traumas requiring blood.
“We need to replenish our blood supply now and over the next six weeks and are calling on donors from the Red Deer area to donate,” says Matsumoto.
To book an appointment, call 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236 6283). The Red Deer blood donor clinic is located at #5, 5020 68th St. (one block west of Arby’s north).
Canadian Blood Services is a national, not-for-profit charitable organization that manages the supply of blood and blood products in all provinces and territories outside of Quebec.
Canadian Blood Services also oversees the OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network, and provides national leadership for organ and tissue donation and transplantation.
Canadian Blood Services operates 43 permanent collection sites and more than 20,000 donor clinics annually.
The provincial and territorial Ministries of Health provide operational funding to Canadian Blood Services.
The federal government, through Health Canada, is responsible for regulating the blood system.
For more information, visit www.blood.ca, Twitter @itsinyoutogive, visit the Canadian Blood Services Facebook page or YouTube channel, or call toll-free at 1888 2 DONATE / 1 888 236-6283.