Cayman’s Blood Bank is continuing to try to reach a ‘self-sufficient’ target of 5% of the population donating blood.
As of the end of December, between 3.2% and 3.3% of those eligible to give blood in Cayman were doing so, said Kristine Battad, a medical technologist at the Health Services Authority’s Blood Bank. The target recommended by the Pan American Health Organization for a country to have a sufficient supply is 5%.
At times of shortage, there is an option of getting blood from overseas, “but we don’t really rely on that so much”, Battad told the Compass.
When stocks fall short, or a certain blood type is needed in an emergency, she said, the local community is swift to come forward, roll up their sleeves and donate their blood.
“We normally send out a [public service announcement] through our marketing team, or reach out to our regular donors,” she said.
“Most of the time, we get an overwhelming response, especially in emergency cases.”
Increasing numbers since ‘mad cow disease’ ban lifted
The Blood Bank has seen an uptick in numbers since a decades-long ban on receiving blood from certain residents who lived in the United Kingdom was lifted in September 2023.
The ban was put in place in Cayman and numerous other jurisdictions following fears that people who had lived in the UK, affected by bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as ‘mad cow disease’ or BSE, in the 1980s and early 1990s could be unknowingly infected with the related variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and, therefore, were not considered to be suitable blood donors.
Battad said that since the ban was lifted, 270 new blood donors had signed up, many of whom are from European countries and previously were not allowed to give blood.
According to the latest statistics, as of December 2024, the Blood Bank had 2,696 donors on file.
Last year saw an increase of 28.7% in new donors compared to 2023, Battad said.
How to become a donor
Potential donors can sign up on the Blood Bank website, where they can take a short quiz to determine if they are eligible to give blood. Anyone aged between 17 and 70 who has not had fever or a viral infection within the last 14 days, is not pregnant nor has given birth in the last six weeks and doesn’t have a heart condition can become a blood donor.
Battad said several corporations and organisations in Cayman organise their own blood drives, inviting Blood Bank staff to come to their offices or places of businesses to collect blood.
A recent addition of a mobile unit, donated by Rotary Central, is already in use to make it easier for donors in the outlying districts to participate.
O negative and O positive are usually the two most wanted blood types, Battad said.
To find out more about becoming a donor or to schedule a blood drive, call 244-2674 or email [email protected].
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