Canadian Blood Services is facing a growing need for donations due to appointments being missed or left vacant as the holiday shuffle gets underway.
At present, more than 19,000 appointments need to be filled across Ontario including 300 in Hamilton by Jan. 6.
Territory manager Erica Hung says there is a particular demand for O negative blood for trauma situations because they can be transfused to anyone.
“Right now we just have an over three-day supply of O negative blood but we need between a five and eight-day supply of O negative blood to meet hospital demand.”
Hung says that’s not to say other blood types aren’t needed for a variety of other conditions.
“We have two children that we know of that we work with very closely that have leukemia,” she said.
“People who have leukemia require up to eight units of blood per week, we also have people who are going in for heart surgery and they require five units of blood.”
The City of Burlington is hoping to do its part through a friendly competition aimed at getting 200 donations by Feb. 18.
Those interested in donating can book an appointment at blood.ca.
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