The annual spring blood donor clinic here will be held next week, and Canadian Blood Services is hoping more people sign up to give “the gift of life” beforehand.
The clinic is scheduled to run next Wednesday (April 23) from 4:30-8:30 p.m. and again Thursday, April 24 from noon-3 p.m. and 5-8:30 p.m. at Fort Frances High School.
While CBS has been calling past donors to book appointments in recent weeks, spokesperson Harvey Heather said this morning that numbers are a little low right now.
He added those who intend to give should be proactive.
The most up-to-date numbers show 132 appointments booked for Wednesday and 151 for next Thursday.
“Typically, 40-50 on the first day and approximately 70 on the second day will not come in for those appointments, which means we’ll likely get, at this point, around 180 people altogether, and we’re looking for 300 [units of blood], I believe it was,” Heather said.
“We could still use 150 more donors to sign up or come into the clinic,” he added.
As of this morning, 35 spots are open for Wednesday and 117 on Thursday.
Interested donors cam make an appointment by calling 1-888-2DONATE (1-888-236-6283) or visiting www.blood.ca
Heather clarified that walk-in traffic is welcome, and usually makes for a significant portion of donations.
“However, as more and more people are booking, we try to rely less on walk-ins,” he added. “Without the walk-in donors that come in, we wouldn’t make our targets.”
Heather stressed that those who make appointments and then realize they can’t make them, either should have someone else go in their place or contact CBS so they can open up that appointment for another donor who may specifically want that time slot.
“The concern is, sometimes if we look really booked up, but then 70 people don’t come in, some people might think, ‘Oh, you don’t need me,’ and they won’t come in after all,” he explained.
“We kind of lose both of those—the ones that don’t come in for the appointment and the ones who think we’re really booked up and we’re not.
“We don’t want to browbeat anybody that’s not able to come in, but we do want to let people know when they don’t come in, it affects the outcome of the clinic,” he warned.
A two-day goal of 380 donors (300 units of blood) has been set for this year’s spring clinic.
At the pair of two-days clinics held here last April and October, 764 district residents donated a total of 648 units of blood.
Each unit can be used to assist as many as three people, so that means they potentially helped up to 1,944 patients.
“We certainly appreciate the community’s support in the past—not just people in Fort Frances, but we get people coming from as far as Atikokan, Emo, Rainy River,” Heather noted.
“All of those communities are welcome, and needed, to come if they can and donate.”
CBS also would like to see more new donors at the spring clinic—not only to meet the increasing demand for blood, but to help replace any past donors who no longer may be able to donate due to health reasons or possibly having passed away.
It estimated about 90,000 new donors are needed across Canada this year in order to keep up with the demand.
“We want to encourage anybody who’s ever considered donating to come by. We’d certainly like to show you how to help people in a great way,” he enthused.
CBS looks after 91 hospitals in Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario, including those here in Rainy River District. About 60,000 units of blood per year are needed to meet the demand of those facilities.
Fort Frances Times
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