Cork public urged to donate blood as supply levels running low

The Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) has said that demand from hospitals continues to be “very high” as the organisation issued an urgent call for blood donations across Cork.

According to the service, the current levels of blood supply nationwide are very poor due to a lack of donations in recent weeks.

As a result, four blood types, including O+, O–, A– and B–, are at the two-day mark, meaning that without further donations via upcoming clinics, the supply will run dry before the end of this week.

Additionally, supply of A+ and AB– are also low, with only four days remaining, and only six days remaining for type B+.

Sickness

Speaking to The Echo, a spokesperson for the IBTS said that sickness is a major factor in preventing donations to the service.

They added: “It’s been very challenging — with Christmas holidays, then straight into the bad weather, and then the flu season, it’s really having a big impact on people’s ability to donate.

“We’ve had some [filler] clinics on to try to make up for the shortfall but we’re not quite [there] yet because demand is so high across all blood groups.

“Normally our biggest challenge would be the negative blood groups but actually it’s impacting all of them.”

Across today and tomorrow, there will be three clinics open for donations in Cork, including at St Finbarr’s Hospital in Douglas, from 11.15am today and from 3.15pm tomorrow; at the Cullen Community Centre in Millstreet, from 3.20pm tomorrow, and at the Cobh GAA Hall, from 2.30pm today.

For further information, visit https://www.giveblood.ie.