2,700 appointments needed to ‘top-up’ blood supplies this summer
Canadian Blood Services needs 2,700 more Manitobans to book an appointment and donate blood between July 17th and August 6th. Local area residents are urged to help ‘top-up’ the blood supply at their local blood donor clinic before heading off on their summer travels.
With a patient somewhere in Canada needing blood every minute of every day, it is important that we maintain a constant supply of new blood donations. Most often, it takes more than one donor’s unit of blood to save a patient’s life. A single car accident victim may require 50 units of blood and blood products to survive injuries.
Increased traffic usually means more car accidents on roadways. Every donor who books and keeps an appointment this summer will provide the additional supply of blood products needed for hospital patients.
“We need 2,700 more appointments in Manitoba booked this summer to keep up with hospital demand, and patients are counting on more people to become blood donors,” says Bill Coleman, Director, Donor and Clinic Services. “If you’ve made an appointment, please honour it. If you haven’t made one, please book one today.”
More reasons why it’s important to book and keep your blood donation appointment this summer:
• Currently, only 60% of blood donors honour their appointments.
• According to Transport Canada, more people have died on Canada’s roads in the last 50 years than the number of Canadians killed in both world wars.
• Road traffic injuries are the second leading cause of death for young people aged 5-25.
• According to the Canada Safety Council website, almost half of all road fatalities and about 40 percent of serious injuries occur on undivided rural roads.
Please visit us online at www.blood.ca or call 1 888 2 DONATE (1-888-236-6283) to book an appointment to donate today.
Steinbach area residents can book an appointment for July 19, 2012. The clinic will be held at the Evangelical Mennonite Church, located at 422 Main Street. The clinic runs from 2pm-7pm.
