‘Urgent’ request for blood donations as supply won't cover Christmas period

The Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) is urgently looking for regular donors to give blood as a recent request for more donations has not yielded enough to sustain the blood supply over the Christmas period.

The IBTS said it was especially seeking donors with the blood group O-, A- and B-.

“High levels of Covid-19 in the population is impacting on donor availability, resulting in high numbers of cancellations, and the IBTS is urgently asking healthy donors to respond to when they receive a text from us,” said Barry Doyle, acting operations director.

Extra clinics have been arranged over the Christmas/New Year period on December 19th, December 24th and December 31st. Clinics have also been arranged on December 28th and January 3rd.

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“A pre-amber alert has been issued in line with the national blood shortage plan, which requests conservative use of blood, and donations are needed to avoid the cancellation of elective surgeries requiring blood support,” said Mr Doyle.

“Donor appointments are booked entirely on the phone with donors being pre-screened before an appointment is made for them to attend the donation clinic, to ensure the safety of our donors and staff.

"We are asking our regular donors to book an appointment when they receive a text from us, especially the O-, A- and B- donors. Further clinic information can also be found on www.giveblood.ie.

“We would also like to thank donors for their support in what has been a very challenging year for everybody and to continue that support into 2022.”