New plasma drive in Sudbury begins for the summer season

In Greater Sudbury on Thursday, a Sirens For Life event was held. This two-month long national event is a challenge between first responders to see who can donate the most plasma.

To kick off the challenge local police, fire services, paramedics and the North Shore search and rescue team rolled up their sleeves throughout the day to donate plasma.

“So, every time a donor comes to donate from (first responder) groups they’ll receive points, new donors are extra points, coming on a long weekend is extra points and at the end of the competition the team that collected the most plasma donations wins our cool inaugural plaque,” said Teri-Mai Armstrong, business development manager at Canadian Blood Services.

“With the pandemic like everywhere else, we saw a decline of donors, the lowest we’ve seen in 10 years. So, this is really important.”

During last year’s event, 375 plasma donations were collected and this year’s goal is 500. Armstrong said plasma donations are needed now more than ever.

“All of us with sirens are donating to save lives, so everyone wins. I’ve seen the real life stories of how we help people, I understand the need and it’s fun,” said chief Paul Pedersen, Greater Sudbury Police Services.

Greater Sudbury Paramedic Services won the challenge in 2021 and are hoping to do the same again this year.

“We got a lot of fresh faces with our service over the last year so we’re hoping we can just add a bunch more people to the team and get them donating,” said Dilyn Gilbert-Leduc, a primary care paramedic.

The Sirens For Life challenge will wrap up on Labour Day.