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Ladysmith hosts blood clinic as CBS hopes to boost declining numbers

Aug 31, 2016 | 5:16 PM

NANAIMO — According to Canadian Blood Services one in two Canadians is able to donate blood.

The sad reality is, not many do.

David Patterson is the director of donor relations for Canadian Blood Services, for BC and Yukon.

“For us it’s really important that everybody knows their role in Canada’s health care system. About one in two people in Canada is able to donate blood. So that takes out people that are young or not well, et cetera. But only one in 60 actually do,” said Patterson.

With those numbers, it’s no surprise that the total number of donations is also declining.

“In Canada we’ve dropped about 10 percent. And the tough part about this is, that we can’t create blood in a lab. We can use labs and technology to make blood safer and better for patients, but we can’t manufacture blood. So, the only way we can get the gift of blood is from donors.”

Canadian Blood Services is pushing to get 32,000 donations nation-wide by Labour Day.

On Thursday, September 1, there’s a clinic at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Ladysmith from 12:30 to 7:30.

You can register online at www.blood.ca.