Canadian Blood Services is looking for donors to help fill an urgent need.

Nationally, they need 22,000 donors by Aug.26 with 1,677 open appointments to be filled in Calgary and the surrounding area.

Lisa Castro, Territory Manager for CBS, says while all blood type donations are appreciated, there is one that is universal.

"O-negative blood is the only type compatible with all other blood types and in an emergency when seconds count and there's no time to check blood type patients receive our O-negative blood supply. We currently have less than four days worth of inventory of O-negative on hand and we need to have between a five and eight day supply of blood and blood products to meet anticipated hospital needs."

Blood products do have a limited shelf life as the demand is constant.

The upcoming clinic at the Foothills Centennial Centre in Okotoks on Aug. 21 is fully booked and Castro says it's imperative people show up for their appointments.

"It's really important that those people that have booked those appointments actually do show up and honour their appointments, otherwise we just can't meet those collection demands for our hospital patients."

To book an appointment and learn about other upcoming clinics click here.

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