One in 50 Canadians thinks that golf is more important than saving lives.
That’s just one detail found in the results of a recent survey commissioned by Canadian Blood Services where two per cent of people said that practicing their swings and going to the driving range to hit a bucket of golf balls is a higher priority than donating blood.
Jennifer Gretzan-Melnichuk, the community development co-ordinator for the Edmonton branch of the national blood supplier, said that she doesn’t find the results surprising, but that there are many interesting details that shed new light on who gives and why.
“The results were interesting and provided us with some insight into what Canadians knew, versus what is the reality in some cases,” she stated via email.
As an example, she continued, most Canadians think that women donate more often than men but it’s actually the other way around. Another fact demonstrates that people aged 66 to 70 donate almost twice as much as 17 to 19 year olds. Almost half of first time donors are 17 to 24, however.
The results were released in time to celebrate National Blood Donor Week, June 11 to 16. Ipsos-Reid polled 1,000 Canadians with the question, “What would you do if you had one free hour?
Approximately one in four people said that they would save a life through blood donation, compared to three per cent who would rather go to the gym. Nearly 70 per cent preferred to spend time with their loved ones.
When asked about a donor’s reason for giving blood, more than half of the respondents said that it was because a loved one needed it. Another 20 per cent said that they know someone who has given blood. Only five per cent said that they gave blood because they heard about a need for donors through work or through the news.
The timing of both the poll results and National Blood Donor Week appropriately bring the issue to the public. As the end of June approaches, Canadian Blood Services starts sweating for its dwindling stocks. Gretzan-Melnichuk hopes that news stories help to change that.
“Summer can be a tough time to collect blood because donors get sidetracked with vacations and outdoor activities,” she added. “The need for blood does not take a summer vacation.”
Carrie Kuzik encourages people to give as much as they can, whether it’s once or 100 times. Her eight-year-old son, Hunter, needs a new transfusion every three weeks due to a rare condition called diamond blackfan anemia. His body doesn’t make its own blood.
Reached in Calgary after speaking at an event on behalf of the blood agency, she said that what surprised her about the survey was that so many people said that they would donate blood.
“It’s very hard to get people to donate blood and to commit that hour… especially new donors.”
She added that each of Hunter’s transfusions takes three hours and he gets a needle every day for chelation therapy to remove the excess iron in his blood. Excuses like being afraid of needles or that it takes too long to donate both just need a new perspective.
“It goes in a blink of the eye. It doesn’t even feel like an hour. [Hunter’s] eight and he’s had 135 blood transfusions. That’s a lot of needles for a little kid.”
In the Edmonton area, it takes 15,000 new donations to keep up with the demand for the months of June, July and August. So far, only 1,367 units have been collected.
The next blood donor clinic in St. Albert takes place from 4 to 8 p.m. on Monday at the St. Albert Parish, and from 3 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. In Morinville, the next clinic runs 3 to 8 p.m. on July 14 at the Morinville Rendezvous Centre.
To book an appointment or to get more information on the various forms of blood donation, call 1-888-2-DONATE (236-6283) or visit www.blood.ca.
