Daily COVID-19 digest

We have important work to do — diversity, equity and inclusion survey: We are listening, learning and committed to improving diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at Canadian Blood Services. To help us understand what we’re doing well and where we can improve, we are asking that you take a moment to tell us about how you are experiencing diversity, equity and inclusion within our organization. Until July 31, employees can participate in our DEI assessment by providing feedback either through an anonymous survey and/or anonymous telephone interview. To make it easy for you to access the survey, we will be including a link in every issue of the daily digest leading up to July 31. Learn more about why your participation is critical to improving our work on this issue on Connect.  

Next steps on Living Our Values: Thank you to everyone who nominated an outstanding colleague for the 2020 Living Our Values awards. By choosing to share their story and impact, you are helping us all recognize how our colleagues are putting our values into practice. And congratulations to all of you that were nominated! By now, you will have received an email notifying you of your nomination. You can expect to receive a letter of recognition by July 30. Over the next month, our selection committee will be reviewing all of the nominations. Regional winners will be notified by August 7 and the recipient of the national award of distinction will be announced in September. If you are curious to learn more about the program, selection criteria and timelines, visit the Living Our Values page on Connect.

Question of the day: When will convalescent plasma be used to treat patients?

Canadian Blood Services and Héma-Québec — Canada’s two public blood operators — are the sole suppliers of convalescent plasma to Health Canada-approved clinical trials in this country. The clinical design is such that patients are randomly assigned to receive convalescent plasma or the current standard of care. At this point, 52 patients have been randomized and 36 patients have received convalescent plasma.

More than 30 participating hospital sites have now been activated for the trials — which means they have either begun or are about to begin enrolling patients in the trials.

Participating hospitals order convalescent plasma units directly through our Blood4Research program. We have issued 92 units of convalescent plasma to participating hospitals. Currently, we have 110 units available to release to participating hospitals. Another 101 units will be ready for release once testing results are available.

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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.