Dear Colleagues:

Over the coming months and years, pending Health Canada approvals, Canadian Blood Services plans to gradually replace most of its current plasma and platelet components with pathogen-reduced components.

The introduction of pathogen-reduced components via the use of specialized technologies with well established records of effectiveness will add an additional layer of safety to the blood supply system in Canada. Other benefits include the discontinuation of the need to irradiate pathogen-reduced platelets and the use of a Platelet Additive Solution (PAS) to partially replace plasma in these platelet components.

These important changes will have an impact on our hospital customers. Please refer to the attachments for more details on timelines and on the actions related to updating your Laboratory Information Systems in a timely manner. Canadian Blood Services will provide information and education sessions in advance of each site implementation via further customer letters and directly by our regional medical and Hospital Liaison teams.

Please share a copy of this customer letter with healthcare professionals at your hospital who might be interested in this information.

This customer letter can also be viewed at www.blood.ca in the “Hospitals Services” section. If you have questions about this letter, or if you require it in an accessible format, please contact your local hospital liaison specialist.

Sincerely,

Rick Prinzen
Chief Supply Chain Officer and Vice-President, Donor Relations