Your Digest

A national call to fill empty donor beds and replenish inventory

Empty donor beds, combined with the constant need for blood, have contributed to a 25 per cent decline in the national blood inventory since the start of April. The ongoing implications of the pandemic have amplified the ups and downs of managing our blood and plasma inventory, which continues to be under pressure. We are grateful for employees who have supported our challenges and we’re asking for your help again. Today, we issued a national news release citing an immediate need for new and returning donors to replenish the national blood inventory. We need 8,000 new donors by Canada Day. Visit Connect to see how you can help stabilize Canada’s Lifeline. If you've never donated before or haven't in a while, now is a great time to show up and fill a chair to ensure patients continue to receive the blood and blood products they need. If you’re not able to donate, please help by encouraging family and friends to book an appointment. We all have a part to play in ensuring there is a continuous blood supply. 

Stem cell transplant recipient gives back 

Anonymous stem cell and blood donors saved her life, and now Miranda Webber is giving back to thank the generous donors who she has come to rely on. To celebrate her first anniversary, or “re-birthday”, following a lifesaving stem cell transplant, she started a fundraising campaign using Canadian Blood Services’ do-it-yourself tool. She’s also inspired people to donate blood and join the stem cell registry by sharing her own health journey with others. Read Miranda’s story on Connect and share with your friends and family

Help us prioritize: we want to hear your thoughts on corporate social responsibility 

Corporate social responsibility reflects an organization’s accountability and commitment in contributing to the well-being of employees, communities and society through various environmental and social measures. We’re at the beginning stages of our corporate social responsibility program and we want to hear from you. Tomorrow, Wednesday, May 18, you will receive an invitation from Ron Vezina, vice president, public affairs, to participate in a brief survey about corporate social responsibility at Canadian Blood Services. We want to hear your perspectives on the topics you think are most relevant to the work we do. Results will inform the focus of short and long-term initiatives within the corporate social responsibility strategy. Visit Connect for more information about the program or email employee.surveys@blood.ca for questions about the survey. 

Continuing the Conversation mental health series 

During our Bell Let’s Talk Day event in January, we heard from four of our incredible employees who bravely and vulnerably shared their personal stories and mental health journeys. The positive response made it clear that there is great value in continuing these meaningful conversations centred around reducing the stigma associated with mental illness. Register here for any or all of our employee panel discussions.

• Wednesday, May 18, from 1–1:45 p.m. EDT: Facilitated by Christina Warrysh, wellness and recognition specialist, with panelists Charlene Ropp and Jennifer Mathieu.
• Thursday, May 26, from 1–1:45 p.m. EDT: Facilitated by Christina Warrysh, wellness and recognition specialist, with panelists Paul Copeland and Jayshri Lad. 
• Thursday, June 2, from 11–11:45 a.m. EDT: Facilitated by Dr. Yasmin Razack, chief diversity officer, with panelists Catherine Butler and Emma Wilms.

Question of the day

What do I need to remember or do during the Everbridge mass communications testing today and tomorrow?

In collaboration with our local emergency response teams (LERTs), we have scheduled tests this week of our mass notification service, provided by Everbridge, outside of regular business hours in various locations throughout the country. The notifications will happen today, May 17, and tomorrow, May 18. Here is what you need to remember:

• Everbridge will follow a sequence of delivery methods that are programmed into the system. They will initially try to reach a recipient via their blood.ca email, wait five minutes for a response and if there’s no response, the system will then send a message to the next contact method listed.
• You may receive a combination of email, voice and SMS / text messages depending on when and how you’re able to respond.
• The call display on telephone / voice devices will be 1-613-739-6494.
• Please respond when you receive the notification.
• Most of us are connected to one or more forms of communication, so if you don’t respond to the initial email because you’re not home or logged in, the system will attempt to reach you another way.

It is vital that we know our system is working properly and that we have our employees' correct contact information in the event of an emergency. If your personal contact information is not up to date in EDA, the system will not be able to reach you. If you have not done so recently, log into EDA and edit your contact information in your personal profile, as required. Read more on changes to EDA and how to update your contact information here.

About Your Digest

This digest highlights the latest policy and employee support measures, resources to help you manage our new reality and original content to remind us that what we do matters. This information can be found on blood.ca/employees from any device, no login required.

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Have questions? Check out blood.ca/employees or email us at communications@blood.ca.