Canadian Blood Services scrambling to find new donors after new iron guidelines
New guidelines introduced by Canadian Blood Services limiting the number of times female donors can donate in a year has the national agency scrambling to find new donors to make up the difference.
The change, implemented in December, was part of tougher guidelines on the amount of hemoglobin or iron required in the blood.
The new rules mean that female donors are now required to wait 12 weeks or 84 days between donations, as opposed to the previous eight weeks or 56 days.
Nothing has changed for male donors although as of March 5 individuals will have to pass a slightly higher hemoglobin test.