Nationwide appeal issued for 3,500 blood donors this week

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3,500 blood donors are needed across the county this week. 

The Irish Blood Transfusion Service have revealed that 3,500 donors are required nationwide to help keep up blood supplies.

An appeal has been issued for people to spread the word and help save lives by donating blood this week. 

On the official Giveblood.ie X page, they have released a statement that reads, “3,500 DONORS NEEDED THIS WEEK! Tag a friend who’s town we are going to and help us recruit new life saving blood donors”.⁣

The IBTS then confirmed that they will be in multiple towns across the country to collect blood donations. 

These locations include Artane in Dublin, Birr in Offaly, Drogheda in Louth, Galway City Centre, Kanturk in Cork, Kilmallock in Limerick, Kilrush in Clare, Mullingar in Westmeath, Tullamore in Offaly and Wexford Town. 

More information about blood donation clinics can be found on the giveblood.ie website. 

Earlier this month, The Irish Blood Transfusion Service revealed that they were seeking an additional 2,000 blood donations over the next 4 weeks to help with the national blood supply. Some blood groups had fallen to under 3 days of stock. 

Paul McKinney, Director of Donor Services and Logistics, explained, “The IBTS aims to have 7 days supply, but current levels including O negative and B negative are at just 2 days supply, and O positive which relates to nearly half the total population is at just over 3 days”.

“There has been a consistently high hospital demand for blood since the June bank holiday weekend and we need to boost our collections by nearly 500 donations per week in the above blood groups to meet that demand. The start of summer holiday travel and high sickness levels in the community has also had an impact on donor availability”.

McKinney added, “We are asking regular donors who are texted over the next few weeks to make an extra effort to attend their nearest clinic, especially in Dublin and Cork where we have clinic availability every week. This is vital to address the current increased demand from hospitals. For the longer term, we would also urge donors to consider giving blood if they are eligible before they go on holidays this summer”.

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