Canadian Blood Services is asking people to make regular blood donation a goal in 2016. Why not find out your blood type and give the gift of life throughout the year?
Finding new O-negative donors in particular is a key challenge every year, since the demand for this blood type is much higher than its natural occurrence in the general public.
While all blood types help patients, O-negative blood is in particular demand by hospitals because it is the only type compatible with all other blood types. O-negative blood is used in the most critical situations: for neonates; patients with compromised immune systems; and for trauma victims. When seconds count, someone’s life is on the line, and there’s no time to check blood type, hospital patients in an emergency situation can all receive O-negative blood.
Across the country, an estimated seven per cent of Canadians have O-negative blood, but this blood type represents close to 12 per cent of all units sent to hospitals. Only about 41,000 of the current 410,000 active donors are O-negative. Canadian Blood Services is striving to increase the existing pool of O-negative donors to 50,000.
CBS is encouraging everyone who knows their blood type is O-negative book an appointment to donate as soon as possible at blood.ca. Chances are someone in your family also has O-negative blood. Encourage them to book with you.
Those who are unsure what their blood type is and want to help can book an appointment to donate blood, and receive a donor card confirming your blood type in the mail after the donation. Alternatively, they can attend a ‘What’s Your Type’ event hosted by Canadian Blood Services. You can find an event by visiting blood.ca.
Also stay tuned for a fun new peer-to-peer initiative rolling out in February that Canadian Blood Services hopes will inspire and challenge more Canadians to donate blood and give life.
To be eligible to donate you must be at least 17 years of age, in general good health and feeling well on the day of your donation. Individuals are encouraged to bring a friend or family member to donate with them and to please remember to make another appointment to donate.
To discover all the ways to help save a life and to book an appointment, download the GiveBlood app or visit blood.ca.
