As supplies run low, the Irish Blood Transfusion Service has launched a plea for regular donors.
Director of Operations Paul McKinney told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland that there are only two days of O negative and B negative supply and three days of A negative. He cautioned that if supplies ran out, surgeries could have to be cancelled.
He said that the blood transfusion service was currently under “pre Amber” alert because the country had never reached the Amber stage.
It was a supply and demand issue. The demand for the O, B and A negative blood was “extremely high”, said Mr. McKinney.
The Service was encouraging those who had already given to schedule another donation. New donations would be appreciated, but the procedure is time-consuming, which is why the plea was aimed at regular donors.
To register interest the public is being asked to log on to www.giveblood.ie