Canadian Blood Services says it has been successful in attracting new donors, but a string of missed or canceled appointments over the past few months has left the blood supply lower than it would like.
In June, the organization set an ambitious goal of attracting 100,000 new donors to address its smallest donor base in a decade.
There were 31,000 fewer donors than before the COVID-19 pandemic, putting more pressure on a smaller number of people willing to roll up their sleeves.
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‘The need is always increasing’: Call for blood donors over holiday weekend
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‘The need is always increasing’: Call for blood donors over holiday weekend
“We’ve definitely seen the donor base slowly move back up in the last few quarters. I think about 80 percent of that target has been reached,” said Dr. Graham Sher, CEO of Canadian Blood Services, said.
“The facts are that we have consistently been able to meet patient needs. We have already delivered the product to hospitals… but we go to the well too many times (with) the same donors.”
The service oversees the stock from which blood and blood products are regularly moved around the country to meet hospital and patient needs.
Between 400,000 and 425,000 Canadians give blood regularly.
But supplies have a shelf life — a year for frozen plasma, 42 days for red blood cells and five days for platelets — so it takes some work to ensure supply meets demand.
“Inventory is tight. We like to stock 21,000 to 25,000 units of blood on any given day because it gives us the agility and elasticity to meet the needs across the country,” said Sher.
“We are working with a stock of 15,000 to 16,000 units rather than the 21,000. That is why we say we need to build the donor base and increase the collections.”
Canadian Blood Services has 25,000 empty appointments to fill before the end of the busy Christmas and New Year periods. It also has to do with a large number of cancellations or people simply not showing up due to a combination of colds, flu and COVID-19 illnesses.
“The winter cold and flu season is upon us, our cancellation rates have increased significantly and we are entering the most difficult weeks to collect blood and blood products,” said Rick Prinzen, the chief supply chain officer and vice president of donor relations for Canadian Blood Services.
“Winter storms may further affect collections.”
© 2022 The Canadian Press
