‘Patients are not taking a break’: Canadian Blood Services urge Calgarians to donate blood

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“We are linked by blood, and blood is memory without language.” – Joyce Carol Oats, I Lock My Door Upon Myself.

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Jhoanna Del Rosario braces for summer.

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Rosario, a territorial manager at Canadian Blood Services, worries for the same reasons why most yearn for hot weather: looser schedules and weeks-long escapes from Calgary.

Because as people lose themselves in their summer plans, whether relishing Stampede’s offerings or slipping away from their city into the wilderness, patients across the city and the country who need blood often desperately are left to borrow from a dryer pool.

However, this year’s blood supply is worse than many summers Rosario has seen in the 13 years she has worked for the organization.

Rosario explained the city’s main blood bank at the Eau Claire Market, the largest in Canada, needs donations from at least 4,400 people a week to keep its taps flowing to the region’s hospitals.

But the centre still needed 538 appointments to meet its monthly goals as of July 21. According to its website, the Canadian Blood Services has four days or fewer worth of supply for blood groups — A+, B-, O+ and O- — which should usually sit between five and eight days.

Rosario noticed the levels dip in late June when the centre received a cascade of cancellations ahead of Stampede. “People are just so happy; they’re celebrating,” she added. “And of course, blood donation is not on top of mind.”

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Referring to holidays in the summer, Rosario said, “Patients are not taking a break; it’s always an ongoing need.”

‘It’s my advocacy’: Rosario has personal connection to blood donation

The World Health Organization calls donating blood “the gift of life.” This gift keeps life’s switch on for many, including patients suffering from complications during pregnancy, children with severe anaemia, accident victims, surgical and cancer patients and those with kidney and liver diseases.

But when asked about the consequences of running out of supply, Rosario refused to consider the possibility. “That has never happened,” she said. “It won’t happen.”

After all, Rosario knows the helplessness that follows a lack of blood for a patient.

That patient was her father, who suffered from lung cancer in 2012 and lived in Manila at the time. Right after she returned home to Canada after visiting him, she said he needed blood.

His blood type was A+, and so was hers. “I was kicking myself and was very frustrated because I could have donated blood for my dad,” she said.

Her regret stemmed from a system in which patients, Rosario said, usually have to pay upwards of $200 for a significant transfusion. Unable to donate blood herself, she tapped into a network of family and friends in her hometown and met her father’s need, although he died two months later.

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Soon, Rosario’s work at the Canadian Blood Services, where she had already spent two years, took on a new life. Now she wanted to continue doing what she did in memory of her father. She started sharing her story during various meetings, including “lunch and learns” for corporate companies.

“This is my passion,” she said. “It’s my advocacy.”

Through her work, she also wants to preserve what’s special about Canada. People in the country, unlike others, don’t have to worry about paying for blood donation, she said. All we have to do is “care for our loved ones with illnesses.”

Those interested in donating blood should book an appointment through the organization’s website. Walk-ins aren’t allowed, and those visiting the centre will have free underground parking.

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