Low attendance at Canadian blood donor clinics over the summer months has lead to the lowest blood inventory level since 2006, according to Canadian Blood Services (CBS).
Director of Donor Relations for Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories Susan Matsumoto said since the CBS issued an urgent request for more donations on Sept. 30, the blood inventory is sitting at 18,000 units, still 4,000 units short of what the organization prefers to have on hand at any one time.
Matsumoto said the current shortage has been caused by a drop-off in donors.
“We did see much higher cancellations this summer,” she explained. “We’re conducting some research so we can better understand why that might be the case. From the period April through to September, nationally, there were 119,000 people who did not show up for their appointments.”
Matsumoto said typically CBS does about 17,000 donations per week, which translates to 510,000 for the five months from April through August.
“We believe that people think that if they don’t show up, there’s someone else waiting in the wings to take their spot, but that’s not the case because we would have been reserving that spot for them,” she added.
CBS is looking for donations of all blood types, though type A and type O are particularly low at the moment, according to Matsumoto.
Local impact
The shortage in the national blood inventory has Airdrie mom Jen Ruklic concerned.
“With Carter’s condition, (Hemophilia), we give him a synthetic blood factor three times a week. It’s not blood-derived but at one point it was,” Ruklic explained. “It was made with plasma and it was really important that we had this.”
“It still is important for us to donate and make sure there’s blood donors because if anyone’s in an accident, they need that back-up, but if my son’s in an accident I need to make sure there’s absolutely not going to be an issue.”
Ruklic’s son, Carter, 6, has Severe Type A Hemophilia which is hereditary and is passed on from mother to child at the time of conception. The disease causes the blood of a hemophiliac not to clot properly; a hemophiliac doesn’t bleed more than someone without the disease but will bleed for a longer period of time.
Ruklic admits that until she and her husband, Will, had Carter she didn’t think about donating blood. Now, she encourages everyone to get in the habit, early.
“We need to get them when they’re 17 and every 56 days, get these kids to donate,” she said. “I really think that’s the trick. They need to hit those high schools more.”
Matsumoto said Canadians can start giving blood at 17. The largest group of blood donors the CBS sees is in the baby boomer generation of 48 to 67 years of age.
Airdrie mom Christina Claveau said she started the habit of giving blood when her daughter Ava, three years old, was diagnosed with Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVA) when she was 18 months old.
“Basically that means her body doesn’t have an immune system. It doesn’t produce anti-bodies so she gets sick really fast. She picks up things all the time,” Claveau said.
“When she was diagnosed, we started her on a treatment called Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG). (It’s) the plasma that’s taken from donors. One treatment is made up of (the plasma from) about 1,000 donors. It gives her an umbrella immune system; she uses the anti-bodies from the donors,” she explained.
Claveau said Ava gets the treatment once a month at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary and it’s made a noticeable difference.
“Since she’s been on treatment she’s been thriving and even though she still gets sick, she doesn’t get as sick. We’ve noticed a huge turnaround because of the blood.”
“We donate (blood) as much as possible and my family goes as well so it’s something that’s very important to us. This hit home. We’ve always known blood was needed and my husband, especially, has always donated, but when it happens to you it really makes you think about it,” Claveau said.
Keeping up with demand
One challenge for residents of Airdrie is that the blood donor clinics tend to fill up in a hurry, according to Matsumoto.
“It’s a reflection of the great community support that you have in Airdrie. We have a clinic on Oct. 14 but it’s already full. We do have some spots in the clinic on Oct. 31 and there are a few spots on Nov. 14,” she said.
According to the CBS, 20 clinics are held in Airdrie each year on Tuesdays and Fridays. On Tuesdays, they try to collect 120 donations, while on Fridays they expect to collect 96 donations.
CBS runs mobile clinics in Calgary and Matsumoto said these are also an option for Airdronians, as is the permanent clinic in Calgary at 737, 13 Ave. S.W. that is open Monday through Saturday. Matsumoto said while appointments are not required they do help CBS better manage the flow in the clinic.
Appointments can be made online at blood.ca or Matsumoto said CBS launched a new app in the spring for the iPhone and Android platforms that allows users to book appointments from their mobile phones.
Dates and times for upcoming blood donor clinics and more information about donating blood can be found on blood.ca
