With National Blood Donor Week upon us, Canadian Blood Services is reminding residents of Parry Sound-Muskoka about the importance of giving blood.
The week highlights the essential role blood donors play in supporting Canada’s lifeline.
The organization says demand for blood in the last two weeks has returned to near pre-COVID-19 levels as hospitals resume elective surgeries and procedures that were put on hold due to the pandemic.
In an interview with MyMuskokaNow, Territory Manager Elaine St. Pierre says as these procedures resume – the need for blood is rising fast.
“So, we need to start collecting blood through our, we’ll call it our ‘pre-pandemic’ level- but a couple of challenges are presented. The physical distancing that is required in donor centres puts constraints on how much blood we can collect at any given time.”
St. Pierre notes that to maintain physical distancing and other safety measures in donor centres, Canadian Blood Services is only collecting 90 percent of their capacity for blood donations.
She says, at this time, booking an appointment to donate blood is mandatory.
“We can only limit a certain amount of people in the room at a time, so it’s very important. We are requesting everybody make their appointment to give us that opportunity to provide the donor with additional screening measures or information to make them aware of what’s going on when they come to our events.”
Since the pandemic began, Canadian Blood Services recorded a 20 percent year-over-year increase in first-time donors in the six weeks from mid-March to the end of April.
St. Pierre feels this is indicative of what we’ve seen across the district.
“Bracebridge Sportsplex, for example, has been going strong throughout this whole time. They’ve allowed us to still come in and hold clinics, despite being closed to the public. In Huntsville, Faith Baptist Church has been very welcoming and open to us – as they normally are.”
St. Pierre says plans to hold another blood drive in Gravenhurst are expected to unfold soon.
To book an appointment or for more information, you can head here.
