Your digest

Embracing intelligent automation to enhance our donor experience
Every year, Canadian Blood Services receives more than 150,000 after-visit surveys from donors. Now, thanks to artificial intelligence and natural language processing, gathering and sorting this feedback runs like a finely tuned machine behind the scenes. Learn more on Connect about how artificial intelligence is helping us to enhance our donor experience by identifying opportunities for celebration and continuous improvement. 

Taking education about organ and tissue donation to new heights
In 2004, a series of unexpected events put a Quebec teacher and mountaineer on the path to becoming a powerful advocate for organ and tissue donation. Inspiration from her students and a transplant patient led Lucie Dumont to start Chain of Life, a Quebec- based program that educates and encourages students and their families to talk about organ donation. The curriculum is one of the resources included in our new Organs & Tissues for Life Education Portal, a comprehensive educational resource developed by Canadian Blood Services in collaboration with organ and tissue donation and transplant organizations across the country. Read more about Lucie Dumont and the Chain of Life program at blood.ca/stories.

Celebrating World Quality Week: How our quality management team is improving the way we work
The Quality Management System team at Canadian Blood Services is responsible for designing, developing and continuously improving processes so that our biological products and transfusion and transplantation services consistently meet patient needs and expectations. For many of us, our day-to-day tasks can feel removed from patients and donors. Yet this is who we must keep in mind with all we do. Quality management system processes are all around us: ensuring donor records are properly updated; auditing suppliers and ensuring purchasing controls are in place; testing blood products; and managing and maintaining documents that govern how we carry out our work. You can learn more about the work on  Connect, as well as check out this list of the upcoming projects of the Quality Management team.

Temperature checks at the door to be discontinued
Our organization continues to navigate the COVID-19 landscape. We are constantly reviewing and analyzing our COVID-19 protocols and safety measures and revising them as necessary. Based on assessment and review results, the current temperature check will be removed as a requirement of the wellness checkpoint, for both donors and employees, starting Nov. 29, 2021. As of that date, frontline staff and facilities will no longer be required to take an individual’s temperature before allowing them to enter a site. To learn more about why we are removing temperature checks at the door, visit Connect.

Question of the day: I am planning a vacation away for my family to rest and relax. Can you clarify the current requirements at my workplace if I answer YES to the question, “Have you travelled in the last 14 days and are currently required to quarantine/self-isolate?” 

We ask that you refer to, and respect, the provincial and federal rules and restrictions for travel that are in force. You can find information about the rules and restrictions for all provinces here. There is more information here about the rules pertaining to international travel. 

If you are considering personal travel inside or outside of the country, it is important that you check your personal travel insurance before leaving. Upon your return, you are expected to follow all the applicable provincial and federal rules that are in effect, including those which address quarantine and self-isolation. If those rules require you to quarantine/self-isolate after returning from travel, you must do so, and cannot attend our sites until your period of isolation is complete.  

If you have to isolate when returning from personal travel and cannot work virtually, you will not qualify for COVID-19 financial leave measures such as quarantine leave.

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.

Click here to read past editions of your digest. 

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