In 2007 Ponoka overwhelmingly responded to the need of giving blood. Last year there were six mobile clinics where 617 units of blood were collected.
“That’s excellent,” said Candace Korchinsky a communications specialist for the Canadian Blood Services for Alberta. “That means residents in Ponoka last year helped save more than 1,800 lives.”
Each unit of blood has the potential to improve or save up to three lives and 52 per cent of Canadians say they or a family member have needed blood or blood products with the average patient needing 4.6 units of blood.
The next blood donor clinic in Ponoka is on March 19 at the Kinsmen Community Centre from 3 to 7 p.m. The goal of the clinic is to collect 112 units.
“We always need blood from people across Canada, everyday there is blood being used, in fact every 60 seconds someone in Canada needs blood. There are so many people who need blood the demand never goes away and never decreases,” said Korchinsky.
The blood is needed for emergency surgery, elective surgery, blood transfusions for leukemia, burn patients, people with bleeding disorders, new born babies sometimes need it as well as new moms.
“I think that it is a really important thing to do if people are looking for a really good way to give back to their community,” she said. “Blood donation is one of the most immediate ways that you can impact people in the community.”
Giving blood takes approximately one hour from start to finish with four main steps. The first is the registration process where you sign in and provide proper identification. The next step is the screening process where your blood pressure and temperature are taken, a donor questionnaire and a private screening interview with a nurse. The third step is the donation of blood, which takes approximately 15 minutes to collect one unit of 455 mL. The final step is the recovery where an attendant will take the donor to a hospitality area where there are refreshments. Each year the clinics provide over 800,000 cookies each year to people who donate blood.
To give blood you must have proper identification, be 17 years of age or older, feeling well on the day of the donation and you are able to donate blood every 56 days.
Although there may be some misconceptions about giving blood such as it may hurt or it takes too much time, Korchinsky urges people to think about helping others.
“I think it can help a lot of people. For people who really want to give back and help someone giving blood is an immediate way to give back and do it. I think something like fear of needles is pretty minimal and blood donors get past that fairly quickly. The minor discomfort is pretty minimal compared to how much you are actually helping someone.”
In 2008 Canadian Blood Services must collect more than 900,000 units of blood across Canada to meet patients needs. Blood collected will stay in the Central Alberta area and all blood types are needed.
Currently there are 30 openings at the clinic in Ponoka, for more information about donation eligibility, or to find a clinic near you, please call us at 1-888-2-DONATE (1-888-236-6283) or visit our website at blood.ca.