Canadian Blood Services Nurses Were Told Not To Wear Masks: OPSEU
As Canada faced a massive blood supply shortage, nurses at one of the country’s largest collection sites were told last week they would not be provided protective N95 face masks or other basic safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Some even reported being told to take off masks they brought in themselves, according to the union that represents them.
Canadian Blood Services (CBS), the non-profit that manages Canada’s blood bank along with Hema-Quebec, employs over 700 nurses, screeners and service staff who have been foisted to the front line of this pandemic.
By Monday morning, many of the workers at the downtown Toronto location had declined to draw blood without proper personal protective equipment, according to a prospective donor and the union that represents the CBS staff.
On March 16, a senior CBS official told the Globe and Mail that the supply was “right on the precipice” because certain blood products have a limited shelf life. With increased demand and mounting tensions as the threat of the pandemic weighs heavily on the health-care industry, CBS staff across the country became weary of the lack of safety measures in place for both workers and donors, according to the workers’ union. It says it received numerous complaints from members, including those who say they were told last week not to wear masks they brought from home.
Since then, the organization’s 35 centres across Canada went from struggling to lure Canadians out of self-isolation to give blood, to an overload of appointments due to a call for support on social media.
Facility in disarray
“When I arrived, there was a lineup and it was going to be a 90-minute wait,” said Amy Stuart, who decided to donate blood after hearing of an imminent shortage as Toronto is in lockdown and braces for a surge in COVID-19 cases in the coming days. Although prospective donors are able to make an appointment in advance, Stuart told HuffPost Canada the facility was in disarray when...
