Canadian Blood Services is urging the public to donate blood, plasma, and platelets as blood distribution to hospitals is outpacing the rate at which donations come in.

Lisa Beechinor says most days, appointments at the Saskatoon center are only 60 per cent booked. This issue doesn’t just affect Saskatchewan. Beechinor says the trend is being seen in provinces across the country.

There are 1,100 donation appointments that need to be filled before November 1st across the province, with 580 of them in Saskatoon. She adds that only 2 per cent of eligible Saskatchewan residents are donating blood. That’s about 13,800 people supplying blood for the whole province.

Beechinor says CBS supplies hospitals with 450 units of blood per week, and St. Paul’s hospital alone uses over 2100 units per year. Saskatoon’s hospitals use donations to aid serious trauma, and for major surgeries, cancer treatments, and managing diseases.

The eligibility criteria at CBS is always changing, and Beechinor says residents who may not have been able to donate in the past might be able to now. Appointments can be booked online at blood.ca, on the give blood app, or by phone at 1-888-to-donate.