An extra 2,000 blood donations are required in the coming four weeks to keep the national blood reserves at safe levels, the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) has announced, reports RTE.
The agency noted that stocks for some blood types have dropped to less than a three-day supply.
Some social media users who work in the medical field claim that “so many people are now living in Ireland, we need far more supplies”.
It also highlighted that the current levels for groups like O negative and B negative are particularly worrying, reports RTE.
Paul McKinney, IBTS Director of Donor Services and Logistics, explained that their goal is to maintain a seven-day supply at all times, but the availability of O positive blood – which is relevant to nearly half of Ireland’s population – is now slightly above two-and-a-half days.
He mentioned that on 13 May, the IBTS sent a stock management alert letter to all hospitals, “restricting issues and hospitals have been asked to reduce their stock holding. This enables the IBTS to manage the limited blood supply available more effectively across the health service,” reports RTE.
An extra 2,000 blood donations are required in the coming four weeks to keep the national blood reserves at safe levels, the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) has announced.
The agency noted that stocks for some blood types have dropped to less than a three-day supply.
It also highlighted that the current levels for groups like O negative and B negative are particularly worrying, reports RTE.
Paul McKinney, IBTS Director of Donor Services and Logistics, explained that their goal is to maintain a seven-day supply at all times, but the availability of O positive blood – which is relevant to nearly half of Ireland’s population – is now slightly above two-and-a-half days.
He mentioned that on 13 May, the IBTS sent a stock management alert letter to all hospitals, “restricting issues and hospitals have been asked to reduce their stock holding. This enables the IBTS to manage the limited blood supply available more effectively across the health service,” reports RTE.
The next level of response in this shortage would involve sending out an amber alert letter, which Mr McKinney said would have significant consequences for healthcare services.
“If the IBTS must issue an ‘amber alert letter’, it would have an immediate implication for hospitals and for elective surgical procedures that require blood support. Hospital demand for blood has been consistently high, particularly since the Easter and May Bank holidays. The continued good weather has also impacted clinic attendances,” he added, reports RTE.
To meet the persistently high demand, Mr McKinney stated that the service needs to increase weekly donations by 500 units across all blood types.
“In addition, the start of the summer holiday travel period has also had an impact on donor availability,” he added, reports RTE.
The IBTS is appealing to regular donors to prioritise attending clinics, especially in Dublin and Cork where clinics are operational every week.
For longer-term support, the service is asking donors to give blood if eligible before going abroad for summer holidays.
“New donors are especially welcome, and we would encourage anybody interested in giving blood to visit our website to check their eligibility before coming to a clinic and call us on 1800 731137 to make an appointment,” Mr McKinney said, reports RTE.
“We would particularly encourage new donors of African heritage to join the national blood donor panel to help us diversify the donor base and get better blood type matches for patients,” he added, reports RTE.
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