Summer vacations leading to drop in blood donations, Canadian Blood Services warns

He said even events such as Saskatchewan Roughrider games can affect attendance, while long weekends often leave donation appointments unfilled.

“The biggest thing that impacts our blood inventory is unfilled appointments,” Barlow said. “Right now, at our Saskatoon donor centre, between now and the end of July, we have close to 1,140 appointments that need to be filled to ensure we have adequate inventory to deliver to our partners, which in turn affects patients. Our Regina office has about 950 appointments that need to be filled by the end of July.”

While Saskatoon and Regina rely on regular donor centre appointments, Barlow said mobile clinics in smaller communities tend to have much stronger attendance.

He said donor centres in Saskatoon and Regina are typically about 50 per cent pre-booked, while the next two mobile clinics in Prince Albert are already full.

“Our mobile donor event in Prince Albert on July 27 is 100 per cent booked, and our next visit on Aug. 24 is also 100 per cent booked,” Barlow said. “A lot of our mobile donor events across Saskatchewan pre-book really well because supporters in those communities tend to rebook their next visit while they’re donating.”

Barlow said rural communities sometimes see a decline during seeding and harvest, but those decreases are generally smaller than the drop experienced by urban donor centres during the summer.

People interested in donating blood can find available appointments through the Give Blood app or online at blood.ca.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com

by Nick Nielsen

Summer vacations leading to drop in blood donations, Canadian Blood Services warns

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