VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – An urgent call for blood donors is under way across the Lower Mainland.

The Canadian Blood Services says there’s a shortage of donors now that everyone has headed back to work and school.

They say they are 3,000 donors below where they need to be right now.

Marcelo Dominguez with the organization says the need for blood is constant thanks to how many donors are needed in emergencies.

“We need up to 50 donors a week to help someone in a car accident, we need up to two to eight donors to help someone with internal bleeding, two donors for a hip replacement,” he explains. “It takes a lot of donors to help save lives.”

He adds that there are a lot of people with good intentions, but that’s not enough.

“Part of the challenge that we face is that currently only 60 per cent of blood donors actually honour their appointment,” he says. “With the continuous need for blood and the busy schedule of a lot of people we want to remind people that they have the opportunity to be making a difference in somebody’s life.”

Dominguez stresses the greatest need is for O-negative blood because that’s the universal donor. He adds that it takes less than an hour to donate once you’ve made an appointment – which you can do online anytime.