An important message from our CEO: Today, Dr. Graham Sher recorded a video for employees with an update on additional personal protective equipment measures and a donor who tested positive for COVID-19 in NB. He also announced that he has plans underway for a Q&A with employees and acknowledged the incredible recognition we have begun to receive from the public for the essential work that we do.
How to participate in convalescent plasma clinical trial: In yesterday’s digest we let you know that we are working with the research community to design a national clinical trial on the use of COVID-19 convalescent plasma in treating patients with the virus. We are already experiencing a high volume of interest from people wanting to participate; however, the process for identifying and recruiting potential donors is still being finalized. Should you be contacted by a potential donor about the trial, please forward the query to blood4research@blood.ca. For now, our NetCAD team will manage all responses to these queries.
Letter for essential service employees: With provincial governments starting to limit the travel of non-essential service workers through their borders, you may be wondering how this affects you.
Some border authorities may ask travellers to show proof that they are crossing to do essential work. To make it easy for employees to do so, we have drafted a letter that you can give to authorities to demonstrate you are providing essential services and created a dedicated page with more information about what you need to know when travelling through restricted provincial borders.
Installation of physical barriers: Planning is underway for the implementation of physical barriers where physical distancing is not possible. Beginning this next week, we will be installing plexiglass for places such as active wellness checks, reception areas and screening booths at our permanent and mobile sites across the country. We are fast-tracking this project, but installation may take several weeks to accommodate sites that need customization and to manage supply constraints. We have also begun to receive face shields to accommodate employees where plexiglass barriers may not be practical. We encourage staff to speak to their supervisor to receive more information on when installation will start at your site. We want to thank our teams in Ottawa and Vancouver who completed a design pilot of the barrier prototypes this week.
The need goes on — “the unknown heroes”: Jerry Vrabic’s story serves to remind us that what we do matters. A motorcycle accident caused him to spend weeks in the hospital recovering from broken ribs, a broken collarbone, a lung infection, ruptured spleen, and intercostal bleed. Having lost 40% of his own blood, he required 26 units to save his life. Jerry says, “even with the best medical experts in the world, they couldn’t have saved me without the unknown heroes who gave blood.” Read more about Jerry’s story on blood.ca.
You are essential — social media round-up: As we continue to deal with the many challenges and uncertainties related to COVID-19, one thing we know is that we’re continuing to ensure a positive experience for our donors. Across the country, blood donors – both new and returning — have been taking notice of the enhanced wellness measures that have been implemented at our centres and are sharing their positive experiences through social media, surveys and other channels of communication.
About the daily digest
This daily digest will highlight 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. Things are moving quickly, so you can expect to hear from us daily. No access to email? No problem — all this information and more can be found on blood.ca/employees from any device, no login required.
Click here to read past editions of the daily digest.
Have questions? Check out blood.ca/employees or email us at communications@blood.ca