Canadian Blood Services facing ‘perfect storm’ as wildfires rage. What to know
Global News
The COVID-19 pandemic, extreme weather and more Canadians travelling abroad have left a hole of 10,000 donation appointments within the network, the agency says.
A “perfect storm” is impacting Canadian Blood Services’ supply, leading to an urgent plea for donations as summer begins to wrap up.
Ron Vezina, vice-president of public affairs with the non-profit organization, told Global News Wednesday the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme weather and more Canadians travelling abroad have left a hole of 10,000 donation appointments within the network.
“It feels like the perfect storm of storms,” he said.
“All these things add up to a much-reduced impact in terms of blood inventory.”
Summer, Vezina noted, is typically a slower season for blood donations given that many Canadians seek to take time away from their schedules to enjoy time off.
However, Canadian Blood Services entered this summer in a “weaker position than we have in the past,” Vezina said, and the extreme weather has made it more challenging to beef up supplies.
“The most recent Kelowna (B.C.) fires, we lost at least 300 collections of whole blood. We also lost a couple of days of collection at our plasma site,” he said.
“Over the next several weeks, it’s a pretty critical period where we need people to step up and join.”
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