Blood, plasma donation drive between emergency responders in Calgary, Red Deer and Edmonton kicks off | 24CA News
A month-long marketing campaign to get new blood donors in Alberta, together with greater than 5,000 blood and plasma donations has hit the bottom operating.
The Sirens for Life Alberta problem formally kicked off on Tuesday with emergency staff in Red Deer, Calgary and space, together with Edmonton and space to compete to see who can recruit essentially the most donors.
In Calgary, Mayor Jyoti Gondek paid a go to to the Canadian Blood Services (CBS) location in Eau Claire the place she was met by a swath of emergency responders able to roll up their sleeves.
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek together with native first responders on the 2023 Sirens for Life problem kick off on Jan. 3, 2023.
Michael King, Global News
Territory supervisor for the Canadian Blood Services, Lisa Castro mentioned they’re attempting to draw no less than 500 new donors all through the month of January.
“All of the first responders have come together to encourage others in the community to donate blood or give however you can… We have a new campaign called Give Three in 2023,” Castro mentioned. Information on the brand new marketing campaign could be discovered on the CBS web site.
“There’s different ways that you can give to Canadian Blood Services and patients that really need that support. We have our organ and tissue donation registry. We also have the plasma opportunity to donate plasma… Or if you are interested in becoming a stem cell donor, that’s another way that you can get involved.”
For Azad Bilal, the marketing campaign means the world to him after he was a blood donor-recipient after affected by extreme accidents when he was struck by a automobile in 2011. Bilal mentioned on the time of the crash he had acquired greater than 100 items of blood, which saved his life.
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“I’ve had about (22-23) surgeries ever since, and it’s been a really long journey… I’m always grateful for Canadian blood services, for all the help they’ve done and obviously all the donors that have donated blood because obviously without blood I wouldn’t be here without it. So I’m just grateful for that,” Bilal mentioned.
The 21-year-old mentioned his dad been a blood donor earlier than his accident however he had by no means actually “knew the value” till he was a recipient himself.
“It’s just an amazing thing, you know? You never know, when you’re donating blood, you could be helping someone’s life out, like, for example, me.”
Joe Zatylny, hearth chief for Edmonton Fire Rescue Services mentioned the rationale he selected to donate is because of each donation saving wherever from two to 3 lives. He’s additionally had members of the family who’ve wanted blood so it’s a chance for him to offer again.
“The challenge is such a good way to get first responders motivated and out there (to) donate blood,” Zatylny mentioned.
“It’s an exciting event to get that rivalry between police, fire, EMS, RCMP and get some healthy camaraderie while we donate blood and save lives.”
This 12 months’s Sirens for Life aim is to gather 5,317 blood and plasma donations and usher in 498 new donors. The marketing campaign runs till Jan. 31 and for data on how to enroll, folks can go to the Canadian Blood Services web site.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
