The UTM Blood and Stem Cell Society and Lifeline hosted a blood donation clinic with the Canadian Blood Services in the Student Centre last Wednesday and Thursday.
A team of volunteers and nurses from CBS and Lifeline hosted the event.
“[Lifeline] are the recruiters for the clinics, while CBS administers them with qualified nurses and volunteers,” said co-presidents Shubneet Malhi and Shayan Alam of the UTM Blood and Stem Cell Society in an email to The Medium.
According to Malhi and Alam, there is a need for donated blood in transfusions, to treat injuries from incidents like car crashes, cancer conditions, as well as several others. The purpose of the clinics is to help reduce the shortage of blood in the medical field across Canada.
“We hold outreach events in the William G. Davis Building, where we inform students about our upcoming blood clinics, add them to the mailing list so they get reminder emails, and sign them up for appointment times at the clinics,” said the co-presidents.
Students had the opportunity to set up the appointments through one of Lifeline’s tabling events that are usually held in Davis, or by walking-in on the day the clinic is held.
At the event, around 140 people signed up to be donors. However, the number was dropped to almost 120 because of deferrals as a result of medical situations.
Malhi and Alam also explained that the number was less than last year because of these “unexpected” deferrals that happened.
“However, we are sure these individuals will be back to donate blood in our next clinic after their situations have been sorted out,” they said.
The blood donor clinics are held once in each of the two semesters of the academic year.
