With the number of blood donors dropping during the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadian Blood Services is making a call for people to roll up their sleeves and donate.

The pandemic has led to a steady decline in the number of people donating, said Gayle Voyer, Canadian Blood Services associate director for donor relations in B.C.

乌鸦传媒淟ike other organizations across Canada, the latest COVID wave is challenging Canadian Blood Services like never before and so essentially what it means is that any illness or isolation requirements, as well as any weather impacts, all of these have affected the donor attendance and the availability of staff and added more pressure 乌鸦传媒� to meet the demand to help save hospital patients,乌鸦传媒� said Voyer.

Given COVID-19, more wellness checks have been added and Voyer said people should follow general provincial health guidelines when donating. There is a questionnaire available at Canadian Blood Services乌鸦传媒� website that people can answer to see if they乌鸦传媒檙e eligible.

People of all blood types can donate.

乌鸦传媒淭ypically, we will call out for O negative donors, because that乌鸦传媒檚 a universal donor 乌鸦传媒� Normally for all blood types, we乌鸦传媒檇 like to have at least a national inventory of an eight-day supply,乌鸦传媒� said Voyer.

乌鸦传媒淭he biggest thing for preparing for a donation is making sure you乌鸦传媒檙e hydrated, making sure you乌鸦传媒檙e feeling well and making sure you乌鸦传媒檝e had something to eat prior to donating and just making sure that you bring government-issued ID and then we乌鸦传媒檒l walk you through the process when you come into our donor centres,乌鸦传媒� said Voyer.

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