Canadian Blood Services and local doctors are concerned as the struggle to bring in donors continues.
Blood services were trying to bring in 400 units of blood by the middle of August, but fell short of their goal by 65 units.
It may not seem like they fell short by all that much, but the need for blood at local hospitals can change in an instance.
“At any time we may have a stabbing victim come through, a ruptured aneurism, a motor vehicle accident come through the door, but go through eight to 10 in a very short time,” says Heather McMahon, a technologist at RVH.
If there isn't blood available, or supplies are low, that can complicate patient care.
“If we had surgical procedures that were scheduled that were elective or semi-elective those might be delayed,” says Dr. Russell Price, RVH pathologist.
Across Ontario there are more than 19,000 appointments that need to be filled between now and Labour Day.
For Barrie, that means another 430 units are needed by the end of the month with O negative being the most in demand.
