An additional 2,000 blood donations are required over the coming weeks as some blood groups have fallen to three days’ supply “causing concern”, the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) has said.
Although the IBTS aims to have seven days’ worth of stock at all times, current supply levels have fallen to three days for some blood groups such as O negative and B negative.
While the service is seeking donations across all blood groups to meet “consistently high demand,” it noted that O positive, the most common blood group in Ireland, is at just over 2½ days’ supply.
Director of donor services and logistics Paul McKinney said the low supply of O positive in particular, which is typically the easiest to collect due to a large pool of donors, is a “real concern” and “very unusual”.
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Hospital demand for blood has remained high since the Easter bank holiday, while the extended period of warm weather and the start of the summer holiday period have affected clinic attendances and donor availability, said Mr McKinney.
Last week, the IBTS issued a “pre-amber alert” to all hospitals, restricting issues and asking for a reduction in their stock holding, which allows the service to manage the limited supply available more effectively, he said.
“If we were to go to amber, which we never have done, we would send an instruction asking them to review their operations and to consider not going ahead with elective operations,” he said.
The IBTS, which requires more than 3,000 units of blood each week to maintain the national supply, is seeking regular donors to attend their nearest clinic, particularly in Dublin and Cork where there is increased clinic availability.
New donors, who can check their eligibility on giveblood.ie, are “especially welcome,” particularly those of African heritage who could help diversify the donor base, said Mr McKinney.
