With the number of blood donors dropping during the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadian Blood Services is making a call for people to roll up their sleeves and donate.

The pandemic has led to a steady decline in the number of people donating, said Gayle Voyer, Canadian Blood Services associate director for donor relations in B.C.

sa国际传媒淟ike other organizations across Canada, the latest COVID wave is challenging Canadian Blood Services like never before and so essentially what it means is that any illness or isolation requirements, as well as any weather impacts, all of these have affected the donor attendance and the availability of staff and added more pressure sa国际传媒� to meet the demand to help save hospital patients,sa国际传媒� said Voyer.

Given COVID-19, more wellness checks have been added and Voyer said people should follow general provincial health guidelines when donating. There is a questionnaire available at Canadian Blood Servicessa国际传媒� website that people can answer to see if theysa国际传媒檙e eligible.

People of all blood types can donate.

sa国际传媒淭ypically, we will call out for O negative donors, because thatsa国际传媒檚 a universal donor sa国际传媒� Normally for all blood types, wesa国际传媒檇 like to have at least a national inventory of an eight-day supply,sa国际传媒� said Voyer.

sa国际传媒淭he biggest thing for preparing for a donation is making sure yousa国际传媒檙e hydrated, making sure yousa国际传媒檙e feeling well and making sure yousa国际传媒檝e had something to eat prior to donating and just making sure that you bring government-issued ID and then wesa国际传媒檒l walk you through the process when you come into our donor centres,sa国际传媒� said Voyer.

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