Duane Hicks
Canadian Blood Services’ fell a bit short of its goal at its two-day blood donor clinic here earlier this week, but will be back again in two months to hold a fall blood drive.
District residents donated 88 units of blood Monday and another 121 on Tuesday for a two-day total of 209.
CBS had a goal to get at least 240 units.
“The two days overall were very successful and saw over 250 community members visit the clinic to come support local hospital patients in need,” CBS spokesperson Mike Choi said this morning.
“With the over 200 units of blood we collected in Fort Frances, we could help save four car crash victims, who may need up to 50 units of blood each,” he noted.
“Or give a cancer patient up to 20 treatments, where each treatment may use up to five units of blood.”
Choi noted some donors may have noticed a longer donation time at the CBS clinic this past week, which mainly was due to two reasons.
“One was the overwhelming response from the community of Fort Frances,” he remarked.
“Even before we opened the doors to the clinic, we saw people lining up outside to come get their spot to donate.
“When there are more bodies in our clinic, wait times do increase,” Choi conceded.
“But we appreciate the patience of those donors in the clinic who stayed until the end to give a patient another chance at life.”
The second reason, said Choi, was CBS recently upgraded the bedside shakers used to collect blood.
“These new shakers, called DOCON shakers, are more effective at evenly distributing blood in the bag, have a more precise and accurate weighing mechanism built in, and even seal the units at the bedside, something our old shakers were unable to do,” he explained.
“As with all new forms of technology, it does take some time to get used to working with new equipment,” he added.
“As our staff gets more comfortable with these new shakers, we predict the processing time for donors will go back to where it was previously.”
Donors, meanwhile, will get another chance to give the “gift of life” this fall when CBS returns to Fort Frances on Oct. 21-22.
“We have added a fall clinic this year due to overall low collections this summer,” said Choi.
“Across the country, low collections, coupled with constant hospital demand, has resulted in the need for additional clinic activity to help us replenish the blood supply in Canada,” he noted.
“Though no patients were going without blood this summer, we need to be proactive now to avoid potential downturns in the future,” Choi stressed.
“We hope to see Fort Frances come together again to roll up their sleeves and give the gift of life.”
The fall clinic is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 21 from 4:30-8:30 p.m. and again Tuesday, Oct. 22 from noon-3 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. at Fort High.
You can make an appointment by booking online at www.blood.ca or calling toll-free 1-888-2 DONATE (1-888-236-6283).
