Students and Faculty Flock to MUN Blood Donation Clinic

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February 12th and 13th saw Memorial University hosting Canadian Blood Services mobile centers. Held in The Landing and the Bruneau Centre lobby, many brave souls donated blood with the selfless motive to save lives. Muse reporter, Timothy Parsons, spoke with Gordon Skiffington, media contact and donor relations for Canadian Blood Services, for more details.

Picture Credit: Ehsan Mohammadi

It’s a pleasure to meet you Gordon, how long have you been a part of 
the Canadian Blood Services?
About 19 years now.

How successful was this recent blood drive?
We received about 125 donors for this drive. Memorial University have wonderful volunteers that helped us set up and advertise the event.

How many donations on average does the Canadian Blood Services need every year?
In this province, we need about 14,000 donations per year. In storage, we usually have about a month’s supply at 2500, but this number can vary. Of course we need all kind of blood types for different people and situations, but the most common types are A and O so they would be the most important blood type to have on hand.

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How often can someone donate blood?
For men it’s 56 days, for women it’s 76 days. People can also donate their plasma once a week, and platelets every two weeks.

Will there be any other donation drives in the future?
We set donation drives on campus twice a year, one in the fall and in the winter, so the next one won’t be until the fall semester.

What would you consider to be the most convenient way for interested people to donate?
You can book an appointment through our website blood.ca. You can also use our downloadable app, which will let you book your appointment, as well as keep your donor number and allow you to complete the short survey usually done before each donation.

If someone wanted to organize an event where they get lots of their peers to volunteer to donate, what would you suggest?
We offer a ride service call Lifebus, where we set up a time for a group to donate, and we arrange a bus to give them transport. The Lifebus can be booked by contacting me personally at gordon.skiffington@blood.ca or by calling 709-758-8046.

If you’re interested in book a Lifebus for your group, or are interested in donating blood, please contact Gordon Skiffington at Gordon.Skiffington@blood.ca or 709-758-8046, or the Canadian Blood Services St. John’s location at 1-888-236-6283.

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