Donors needed for blood supply infusion after series of winter storms

When schools and businesses closed due to massive snowstorms in Atlantic Canada this week, so did 14 Canadian Blood Services donor clinics, and now the push is on to replenish.

"In our region this week alone we've cancelled blood donor clinics that equate to 789 lost units. To give people some context, that's more than we cancelled all of last winter combined," said Peter MacDonald, donor relations director for the Atlantic region.

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While there is a national inventory that supplies blood for the entire country as needed, MacDonald said the biggest challenge is that the inventory is perishable.

"I think a lot of people don't realize that blood has a shelf life."

We have a call to arms in Newfoundland, and we need people to attend clinics.- Peter MacDonald, Blood Services

MacDonald said three components are drawn from donated blood — red cells, plasma and platelets.

Plasma lasts the longest and can be frozen for up to a year. Red blood cells last for 42 days, but platelets last for only five days.

"And they're a key piece of cancer treatment. A patient undergoing cancer treatment can use up to the blood of eight donors per week," MacDonald told CBC Radio's St. John's Morning Show.

MacDonald said the greatest demand at this point is for blood types O negative and A negative but with the current inventory crunch all types are needed.

"We have a call to arms in Newfoundland, and we need people to attend clinics to get us back to where we need to be."

Information on local clinic times and locations can be found on the Canadian Blood Services website.