The Canadian Blood Services Mobile Donor Clinic was in Weyburn on Tuesday, collecting essential blood products that contribute to the health and quality of life for people across the country.
Aaron Barlow is the Community Development Manager for Canadian Blood Services Saskatchewan. He says the clinic in Weyburn saw a significant turnout.
“We’re really, really happy to share that we collected more than 100% of what we had intended to. Weyburn historically has been a very, very big supporter of Canadian Blood Services, and by extension, I want to thank Weyburn and community for their continued support of Canadian Blood Services.”
Mobile clinics visit smaller communities to make donating more accessible; these are staffed by people working out of the Regina and Saskatoon centres. However, they also require local volunteers.
“Those community volunteers welcome guests and visitors to our mobile donor events, help corral those donors through the right avenues of getting checked in and of course providing snacks afterwards. They play a vital role in the success of the mobile donor events."
Barlow says Canadian Blood Services delivers on their promise to have blood products readily available when they are needed, and successful donor clinics are central to that. Those needing blood and blood products range from cancer patients to tragic accident victims, and even routine surgeries.
Canadian Blood Services is also one of the safest blood operators in the world. Barlow accredits this to their regularly updated eligibility criteria and secondary screening.
“One thing to consider is that the eligibility criteria is not only addressing potential risk to a recipient, but your health as a donor. Are you healthy to donate? Are you perhaps on a medication that by donating, is going to affect that medication's efficacy? There are two sides to that equation in eligibility - addressing your health as a risk to a recipient and then your health as a donor.”
Canadian Blood Services currently has a goal aiming to attract one million new donors in the next five years.
Barlow explains the process of becoming a donor is straightforward.
“You answer a questionnaire about your eligibility, that eligibility is determining whether you can donate at that time, some of the common factors with eligibility are things such as travel, medications, recent tattoos, perhaps dental surgery. The process itself only takes a couple minutes."
"You're greeted by our friendly staff who help you along every step of the way. Having donated takes a couple of minutes and then you get to enjoy snacks and also that feeling of having made a difference potentially to somebody in your own community.”
Other blood products collected by Canadian Blood Services include platelets and plasma, which is currently not collected at mobile clinics in Saskatchewan but instead at the Regina and Saskatoon donor centres. They are also responsible for the stem cell program.
“There's currently about a thousand people waiting for a stem cell match in Canada and we really, really need to diversify what our registry looks like to basically match how unique and diverse Canada is right now. So, for stem cells, we're looking for registrants between the ages of 17 and 35 and especially those from diverse backgrounds.”
More information about blood donation, and upcoming clinics, can be found on the Canadian Blood Services website, downloading the GiveBlood app, or by calling 1-888-236-6283.
The next clinic in Weyburn is scheduled for September 2nd.