Local Blood Bank Had a Rough Month
Weather and IT Issues mean Canadian Blood Services Is Short Over 100 Units
Looks like the Canadian Blood Services might be down a few quarts thanks to some recent wild weather, along with some IT issues.
“It started out in Huntsville on November 10th, “says Canadian Blood Services’ Elaine St. Pierre, “a snowstorm ravaged the town on a Saturday morning and we were not able to run our clinic that day. And then Friday, we were scheduled to be at a Stayner event… we had a lot of technical issues… we were not able to run that clinic.”
St. Pierre says the two canceled clinics combined mean for a shortfall of about 130 units of blood, units that would be put to good use. “”The need for blood is constant, but it can tend to go up when the weather plays an impact. A car crash for example, is one of the highest uses for blood. So 50 units of blood could be used to help a car crash victim.”
Everyone is being encouraged to consider rolling up their sleeve to help cover the shortfall, but St. Pierre says Step One is to go to Blood.ca and take the donor Eligibility Test and make sure you can donate. Reasons you are not allowed to donate blood include recent tattoos or piercings, being gay and sexually active within the last year, or being within your donation threshold.
