Roll up your sleeves for Canadian Forces

Canadian Blood Services is encouraging donors to roll up their sleeves until Nov. 14 and donate in “red” in tribute to the men and women of Canadian Forces who are engaged in military activities throughout the world. Many Canadians wear red on Fridays for our troops and are being asked to take it to the next level and donate blood and save lives in honour of our men and women in uniform.

The bandage worn afterward is called “the badge of honour” by Canadian Blood Services. In 2006, Canadian Blood Services signed an agreement with the Canadian Forces to help create the “Walking Blood Bank” program, which is used when blood is needed in emergency situations.

Canadian Blood Services has since pre-screened the blood of every person in service before they are deployed or while they are on active duty. This allows Canadian Forces to have access to on-call donors in the event that large quantities of blood are needed. In 2008, Greater Sudbury and surrounding communities collected 28,606 units of blood, providing blood to patients in 23 hospitals.

For more information phone 1-888-2-DONATE or go to www.blood.ca.