Plasma donations needed in Lethbridge before Easter

The Lethbridge Plasma Donor Centre is in dire need of plasma donations as the Easter weekend draws near. A total of 361 appointments need to be filled for this week. Brenna Scott, the Business Development Manager for the centre, says donating plasma is vital to helping patients in life or death situations.

“Plasma is part of your blood and your blood is divided into three parts. You have the plasma, red blood cells, and white blood cells. What the plasma does is it really helps the antibodies and helps protect you from infection. What our plasma’s used for is once it’s collected it’s sent to our fractionator and it’s made into different kinds of medications. What plasma can be used for is patients with cancer, kidney disease, liver disease, immunodeficiencies, and a lot of different surgeries as well. It is used for a wide range of patients here in Canada.”

The Lethbridge Donor Centre hours are:

• Monday, April 11 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Tuesday, April 12 to Thursday, April 14 from 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, April 16 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Closed on Friday, Sunday and Monday over the Easter long weekend

Scott says that same day appointments are available for plasma donation by booking online at blood.ca