Your digest

Celebrating a year of plasma donation in Sudbury

It’s been a year since our first plasma donor centre opened in Sudbury, Ont., and we are so grateful to all the staff, volunteers and donors who helped make the past 365 days a success. Last August, the centre became our first fully-dedicated facility for the collection of source plasma. This valuable type of plasma, collected from volunteer donors, is used to produce products that treat patients with a variety of rare, life-threatening, chronic and genetic conditions. Jeff Brown is one of those patients. Jeff recovered from a rare disorder called Guillain-Barré syndrome thanks to immunoglobulin, a medication derived from plasma. Since his recovery, he has become a strong advocate for plasma donation — and this past year, he also became a donor. On Aug. 25, Jeff celebrated his health and the Sudbury centre’s first anniversary by making his fourth plasma donation. Read more at blood.ca/stories.

Why O-negative blood is “liquid gold” in life or death situations

Picture this scenario: A trauma patient arrives at the emergency room. Staff don’t know her blood type, and it will take about an hour to find out. She doesn’t have an hour. She’s bleeding profusely. Thankfully, she can rely on the generosity of O-negative blood donors to keep her alive when every moment matters. O-negative blood donors, sometimes called “universal blood donors,” are essential to saving the lives of patients when we don’t know their blood type. Learn more on blood.ca/stories about what makes a person’s blood type O-negative – and why, without it, many patients would not survive.

Showing the LOV: Laura Todd and Lynne Meilleur

Earlier this summer, we asked you to nominate and celebrate your outstanding colleagues and teams for our annual peer recognition program, Living our Values (LOV). We were blown away by the incredible nomination packages we received for employees across our organization who have gone above and beyond to embody our ICARE values of integrity, collaboration, adaptability, respect and excellence. We’re profiling each of the six regional recipients over the next few weeks as we lead up to the announcement of the National Award of Distinction for an individual and a team, in late September. Last week, we announced our first two recipients. This week, we’re celebrating two more recipients, Laura Todd, manager of strategic planning and business integration (Ottawa, Ont.) and Lynn Meilleur, technical supervisor (Winnipeg, Man.). Meet Laura and Lynne and read about their tireless commitment to our organization and to patients across the country, on Connect.

Question of the day: The new vaccine policy notes that certain employees may be excused and accommodated based on relevant human rights grounds. Can you explain what kind of circumstances an exemption may apply to?

Employees who are unable to be fully vaccinated for legitimate medical reasons are protected under human rights legislation and will be accommodated, to the point of undue hardship, based on their individual situation and/or needs.

Medical documentation will be required in order for Canadian Blood Services to conduct a proper assessment of the employee’s medical condition and whether it supports an inability to be vaccinated.

Exemption requests for non-medical reasons (e.g. an employee’s religious belief, practice or observance) will be assessed and evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and in accordance with provincial human rights codes and case law. Accommodations in this regard will also be made to the point of undue hardship.

Aside from the specific exceptions above, being fully vaccinated will be a condition of working for Canadian Blood Services.

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About your digest

This digest highlights the latest policy and employee support measures, resources to help you manage our new reality and original content like articles and videos to remind us that what we do matters.  No access to email? No problem — all this information and more can be found on blood.ca/employees from any device, no login required.     

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