I recently had the opportunity to meet with a representative from Canadian Blood Services about the upcoming Blood Donor Clinic in Orangeville on Christmas Eve and I wanted to take a moment to share with you what I learned.
You will probably ask the same question that I did, which is “Why Christmas Eve?” Well, what I learned is that blood and blood products have a shelf life. Platelets, which are a component of blood that is frequently used in cancer treatments, only have a shelf life of 5 days. If Canadian Blood Services shuts down for more than a couple of days, those patients would not have the blood products they need to survive. Which means that they have to hold clinics on holidays, such as Christmas Eve.
Who Can Donate
There are donors in Orangeville who donate regularly, which is awesome! Those regular donors CANNOT donate at every clinic though…men have to wait 56 days and women 84 days between donations, so it is absolutely crucial that we find NEW blood donors in Orangeville! Are you eligible to donate? Pop over to www.blood.ca to find out if you meet the criteria!
How Does Your Donation Help?
Did you know that ONE donation can save up to 3 lives? That’s a pretty powerful gift to give! I was also shocked to learn that it can take 5-8 units of blood to treat ONE cancer patient for ONE week…That really shows how important it is to have a constant supply of donors on hand! AND it can take 50+ units to save the life of one car crash victim. WOW!
Blood Types
All blood types are ALWAYS needed!
O-Negative is the UNIVERSAL donor – if this is your blood type, your blood can be used to save the life of ANYONE! Because only 7% of Canadians are O-Negative, it is the most critical blood type and it is ALWAYS in high demand because it is frequently used in emergency situations when staff don’t have the time to determine a patient’s blood type
O-Positive is the most common blood type and can be given to any patient’s with a positive RH – That means that it can be used as a donation for about 85% of the population. It is frequently used in emergency situations that require a larger volume of blood.
Give The Gift of Blood
This holiday season, I am urging you to visit www.blood.ca to sign up for the Orangeville Blood Donor Clinic. Currently, the clinic is less than 50% full – They require 100 DONORS. Will you be the next new donor to give the gift of life to someone who really needs your help??
SHARE
Please take a moment to hit “share” on this post – Make sure everyone in your network knows about this clinic and the importance of donating blood.
Thank you Orangeville – Let’s make this the busiest clinic of the year!!!