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Donating blood is a method Canadians might help save a life. From 2022 to 2023 there have been 767,000 blood donations throughout Canada, in line with Canadian Blood Companies’ annual report, roughly 2,000 greater than the earlier yr.
Nonetheless, when you reside on the Sunshine Coast, there’s nowhere to donate blood.
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Craig Nielsen, neighborhood growth supervisor for Canadian Blood Companies, mentioned he has seen many blood donors who’ve travelled from the coast to the downtown Vancouver donor centres the place he works — together with one man who’s been making the journey for the final 50 years.
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“It’s wonderful to see a number of the help that folks on the Sunshine Coast and extra distant elements of Vancouver Island are nonetheless devoted to,” he mentioned.
Some on the coast could surprise why it’s not doable to donate blood regionally.
A number of components decide the place blood providers maintain donation occasions, mentioned Nielsen. These embody the variety of models of blood that may be collected in an space, labour and transportation prices, and distance and entry to the closest blood manufacturing web site. The closest such websites are in Vancouver.
These components are assessed at a nationwide degree with a purpose to function an environment friendly blood system.
Storing and transporting blood safely is an advanced course of, defined Nielsen, including that blood solely has a shelf lifetime of 42 days earlier than it turns into unusable.
This shelf life is even shorter for sure blood merchandise resembling platelets, which solely final seven days.
For these travelling off the Coast to donate, the closest donation centre is the Congregation Har El, in West Vancouver at 1305 Taylor Method.
Donors can discover a full listing of cell areas, in addition to the Canadian Blood Companies schedule, on-line.
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“We acknowledge and are so grateful to lots of the donors that proceed to donate, whether or not or not it’s from afar with volunteering or monetary donations, or the people that take the time, spend the cash and really journey over to donate as a result of simply as anyone donating to any centre throughout Canada, they’re saving a life by doing that,” Nielsen mentioned.
Whereas there isn’t a present plan to increase providers to the Sunshine Coast, Nielsen maintains that Canadian Blood Companies will proceed to determine the right way to service extra communities within the coming years.
Nielsen additionally clarified that though Canadian Blood Companies doesn’t accumulate blood on the Sunshine Coast, there isn’t a impression on how hospitals within the space obtain blood and blood merchandise resembling plasma or stem cells.
Nielsen highlighted a number of the some ways to help Canadian Blood Companies apart from donating blood.
Acts like becoming a member of the stem cell registry if one is eligible, changing into an organ or tissue donor, volunteering time or offering monetary help.
Jordan Copp, is a Native Journalism Initiative Reporter with the Coast Reporter. The Native Journalism Initiative is funded by the Authorities of Canada
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