‘All types are needed’: Canadian Blood Services urges people to donate this summer

Canadian Blood Services chats about the increased need for blood donations during the summer months.

Canadian Blood Services is asking people to roll up their sleeves and donate this summer as the organization deals with an increased need.

Halifax-based community development manager Krysta Hanakowski says there are a few times a year where it’s harder than others to collect blood.

“And summer is the worst, and that’s because Nova Scotia’s beautiful, there’s a lot of other things to do in the summer. Our regular donors are away on vacation, so it’s just a real struggle to collect,” she told CTV Atlantic’s Crystal Garrett.

“In addition to that, there’s also numerous long weekends, so we have long weekends in July, August and September, and long weekends are also notoriously difficult to collect blood on.”

Hanakowski says demand is actually higher now than it has been at any point in the past 10 years.

“Demand is only increasing and, as well, in Nova Scotia, we have a population that’s both aging and growing, so all those things put together mean that we just need more people to come donate,” she says.

Canadian Blood Services says there isn’t a type of blood that it doesn’t need, and Hanakowski points to the misconception that you need to know your blood type before you donate.

“You don’t need to know that. After you donate, we will give you a card with your blood type on it, but all types are needed,” she says.

“You’ll hear especially a cry for o-negative blood all the time, and that’s because it’s used more than others in an emergency situation – they’re just going to give people o-negative blood because it’s safe for everyone.”

Even if you donate once, it doesn’t last forever. Red blood cells can only be stored for up to 42 days.

“And we have blood going from our clinic to our lab to the hospitals every day, so that’s why we constantly need people in and donating to help replenish the product, we’re open six days a week in Halifax, we’re only closed on Sundays, so there’s lots of opportunities for people to come out and help.”

Men can donate every 56 days and women can donate blood every 84 days. Hanakowski says it’s a great opportunity because that means everybody can come and donate once this summer.

“We’re only asking for one hour of people’s time over the course of summer, so plan a fun summer, but try and give us that one hour and come experience kind of how you feel after helping save somebody’s life,” she says.

Even if a person can’t donate themselves, Hanakowski adds there are other ways to help.

“We’d love people to help recruit other donors, have the conversation with your friends and family to help us keep it top of mind for people,” she says.

“You can follow us on socials, help spread the news there, and if you’re 17 to 35 you can also join the stem cell registry. You can give financially, you can come and volunteer, there’s lots of ways to become involved outside of donating blood.”

People can book an appointment on blood.ca, the GiveBlood app or call 1 888 2 DONATE (1-888-236-6283).

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