Blood clinics closing

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Some blood donation clinics are closing around the country. The news has been seen as good because as technology advances doctors are using less blood in procedures but that doesn’t mean there’s an oversupply of blood in Canada, quite the opposite in fact.

Canadian Blood Services is closing clinics in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and BC, and ending mobile clinics like the one in Cayuga.

Last year CBS wanted to collect more than 870,000 blood donations, and didn’t make the goal. This year the goal is smaller, about 830,000 donations, that’s because doctors are transfusing less blood with advanced procedures like laproscopic surgery. But car accident victims typically need blood donations from 50 people. Cancer patients, leukemia patients need 5 units a week to continue to live a normal life.

Patrick Fraser makes time every couple weeks, “so it’s nothing to lie here and then you leave and someone gets something they really need for their treatment.”

The need is constant, and blood doesn’t last longer than a week.

Visit blood.ca for more information or to book an appointment.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly noted that car crash victims need blood donations from 5 people. The correct number is 50. This has been updated in the article.