Blood supply levels dwindling

After attacks in the U.K., Canadian Blood Services calling on Canadians to roll up their sleeves and help bolster supply

With the blood supply reaching extremely low levels after donations slowed this past winter and spring due to stormy weather, Canada is at risk of failing to meet demand in the event of a crisis, officials say.

Michael Betel, Canadian Blood Services director of donor relations, worries Canada might be ill-prepared for the summer ahead.

“This incident in the U.K. reminds us that things can change at the drop of the hat,” he said of the terror attacks that killed eight people and injured more than 40.

“You look at the humanitarian gestures that people can make and one of those things is for people to consider donating blood and although it’s not necessarily going to be something that helps the people of Manchester, it is something that will help people across Canada.”

The agency needs to maintain enough units for a stretch of five to eight days, but a lack of donations has left them with only roughly two days’ worth of blood relative to current demand.

On May 15, the group called on Canadians to roll up their sleeves and provide 150,000 blood donations by July 1. There has been a modest uptick in giving after recent terror attacks but the agency isn’t on track to hit that target.

Betel says blood types most commonly used in the event of a terror attack, such as O-negative, are especially low.

The agency’s inventory needs to sit at upwards of 30,000 units, but they currently have less than 13,000 donations in stock across the country.

“This is a really important time to remind people about that need and that we’re still not out of the woods here,” Betel added. “Things like this can happen anywhere and we should be ready.”

In Toronto, where commuters are busier than in rural areas, the summer months can be even more of a challenge, said the city’s blood service’s manager, Nancy Banning.

“People are away for vacation but the need for patients stays the same,” Banning said while standing inside the agency’s downtown clinic at King St. W. and University Ave.

She says terror attacks often inspire donors but that “preparedness and inventory levels aren’t optimal” in the city.

The U.K. terror attacks are “the type of thing that reminds you when you hear those stories,” Mark Hubbard said, while donating at the downtown clinic.

“It’s a public duty,” Hubbard said. “You’re a healthy individual who has no problems, why not donate and help out whoever is in need after a terrorist attack or a car crash?”

“(Recent terror attacks) are definitely something that is in the back of your mind when you go (to donate),” Mike McKee echoed, from the chair next to Hubbard.

One Torontonian pledged on Twit- ter to donate annually in honour of Canadian victim Chrissy Archibald.

“Tomorrow will head to a CBS office to donate blood telling them Chrissy sent me and she will keep sending me every year on the same day,” tweeted Omar Ozaldin on June 4, the day after the attack.

In May, Betel says they fell 650 units short of their target. In June, they’re already 46 donations behind.

Betel is calling on Canadians to donate 48,000 more units in the last three weeks of June to get to the levels needed.

This year, the agency will host 13,320 events across Canada at 850 sites and 37 permanent clinics, more than half of which are in Ontario.