By Spencer Sterritt

Winter storms hamper blood donations in Nanaimo

Feb 9, 2017 | 8:27 AM

NANAIMO — The recent storm which swept through Nanaimo and Vancouver Island kept many off the roads and away from blood donation clinics.

David Patterson, director of donor relations for Canadian Blood Services in B.C. And Yukon, visited their clinic Wednesday at the Beban Park Social Centre.

“This last storm has lost us about 30 per cent of our collections,” he said. Given the snowfall Wednesday night, Patterson predicted many clinics would close early.

When he spoke to NanaimoNewsNOW in the early afternoon Wednesday, only roughly thirty people had arrived to donate blood.

“There’s still patients in need in hospitals in Nanaimo and across the country that depend on us to provide blood. Losing that amount of collections really hurts.”

rare sight

Clear Nanaimo skies offering prime 'planetary parade' viewing

17h ago

expanded space

Modular classrooms coming for space-strapped Nanaimo schools, timelines clarified

Jan 18, 2025

cell tower

Rogers pushes for improved Nanoose Bay cell service

Jan 17, 2025

Nanaimo wasn’t the only city hit with a storm. Atlantic Canada is snowed in every year and in 2016 major storms hit Ontario, Quebec and the Prairies. Patterson said everywhere is in tough shape donation-wise.

Currently, 1,900 blood donations have been made in Nanaimo in the last year, up from 1,800 in August.

Patterson said the goal is 2,500 donors. Roughly 400 donors are needed a week to sustain hospital needs.

“In a perfect world our average donors donate twice a year,” he said.

It’s an important goal to hit because the amount of donations people can make in a year will soon go down.

Female donors will now have to wait twelve weeks instead of eight between donations to maintain their iron levels, and men will soon have to have to pass a stricter hemoglobin test to donate.

Patterson said the new standards were put in place to keep their donors as healthy as possible.

A blood donation clinic is held Thursday once again at the Beban Park Social Centre from 12 to 7 p.m.

Spencer.sterritt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit