Hospital Newsletter
New international guidelines for platelet transfusion
A 2021 review conducted by the International Collaboration for Transfusion Medicine Guidelines (ICTMG) revealed inconsistencies in the available platelet transfusion guidelines. Concerns included differences in transfusion thresholds – essentially, the point at which the number of platelets a patient has dips low enough that a transfusion would be considered – and dosing recommendations.
To address these gaps, the ICTMG conducted an additional systematic review of published evidence and then teamed up with AABB (the Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies) to create a new international guideline.
This new guideline was published in the high-impact medical journal, JAMA, in May 2025.
This guideline examines whether it is better to use liberal transfusion strategies (giving more platelets) or restrictive strategies (giving less) to transfuse platelets and makes recommendations for practice. Patient partners were involved in the development process to include the perspective of platelet recipients in identifying patient-important outcomes.
Access the full guideline and additional resources here: Platelets 2025 | ICTMG.
Celebrating Dr. Sam Shemie, a world leader in organ donation
Dr. Sam Shemie’s drive to transform organ donation in Canada was sparked by a baby who needed a new heart.
Robbie Thompson was just six months old when he was admitted to Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) with end-stage heart failure. He was transported from Courtenay, B.C., and was in and out of intensive care for months afterward. Family life was upended as his parents paused work and left home to care for him in a faraway city.
As Robbie’s intensive care doctor, Dr. Shemie was at the centre of the story. Yet what struck him was how little control he had over the outcome for this family. A lifesaving heart transplant could only happen if someone else in Canada experienced tragedy, and if — once hope was lost — that other medical team helped make donation possible.
“Watching their journey in the ICU [intensive care unit], I realized that if we’re going to do this and keep this kid alive for a transplant, then I have to rely on all these other hospitals to do their job around donation,” says Dr. Shemie, who is now a medical advisor for Canadian Blood Services. “If they’re not doing their job, this kid is going to die, and we’ve wasted time, money, energy, and created trauma for the family.”
Fortunately, Robbie was able to receive a new heart at the age of 18 months, followed by a second transplant a few years later. He grew up to be an organ donation advocate, competing in athletic events for transplant recipients in Canada and abroad.
As for Dr. Shemie, he’s worked tirelessly for more than two decades to increase organ donation rates to honour the wishes of families on behalf of dying patients and to serve the needs of those waiting for transplant. He’s done it through efforts to change hospital culture, support the creation of a national system for organ donation, and shape understanding of death itself.
Keep reading to find out just how much of an impact Dr. Shemie has had on the field of organ donation here.
Our new resources for health-care professionals
To support best practices in transfusion medicine, Canadian Blood Services develops educational resources in collaboration with subject-matter experts from across Canada. Visit our professional education website, a trusted resource hub for health-care professionals across the country, and check out these new resources:
-
Chapter 2, Blood components. This chapter revision provides an overview of blood component processing at Canadian Blood Services, including red blood cells, whole blood leukocytes reduced, platelets, plasma and cryoprecipitate. It also contains additional information on component dosing, indications/contraindications and alternatives. This chapter update is also available in French.
-
Chapter 3, Albumin. This chapter covers the use of intravenous albumin, including when and how to use it. This chapter has been revised to reflect the most up-to-date clinical trials and recently published guideline recommendations. This chapter update is also available in French.
-
Summary of adverse transfusion reactions 2020–2025. The adverse transfusion reactions data reported to Canadian Blood Services have been updated for the fiscal year 2024–2025. It is also available in French.
-
Apheresis frozen plasma, psoralen-treated. This publication is a brief guide to apheresis frozen plasma, psoralen-treated, describing the manufacturing, characteristics, clinical use, and alternatives to this component. This publication is also available in French.
-
FAQ: Apheresis frozen plasma, psoralen-treated. This publication provides information on apheresis frozen plasma, psoralen-treated produced by Canadian Blood Services. It is a blood group specific, pathogen-reduced plasma for transfusion and is now available through Canadian Blood Services as of Fall 2025 in Ottawa and gradually rolled out nationally. This publication is only available in English.
-
FAQ: Whole blood, leukocytes reduced (LrWB) at Canadian Blood Services. Canadian Blood Services began producing whole blood, leukocytes reduced (LrWB) in November 2022. Initially restricted for use by the Canadian Armed Forces, access to LrWB was expanded to non-military use in the context of clinical studies in January 2025. Read our FAQ to find out more about LrWB. This publication is also available in French.
-
Breakthroughs in blood: Advancements into action. Breakthroughs in blood is a webinar series for sharing groundbreaking findings in blood research and promoting best practices in transfusion. On our professional education website, you’ll find webinar recordings and resources to support practice change. The resources are for health-care professionals, hospital administrators, policy makers and researchers.
-
FARES-II (original date of webinar: June 16, 2025). Visit the Breakthroughs in blood page to access the webinar recording and knowledge mobilization resources.
If you don’t already receive our Research & Education Round Up, you can subscribe to the monthly newsletter here for updates on the latest news, publications, and events from Canadian Blood Services’ research and education network.
Here’s how you can help shape our sustainability priorities
In 2022, Canadian Blood Services conducted our first-ever materiality assessment to help identify and prioritize the most important sustainability topics for our organization. That effort included feedback from more than 2,300 stakeholders—including donors, employees, and patient advocacy/special interest groups—and has since helped shape our sustainability strategy.
The results from that initial assessment, along with updates on our progress, are available in our annual sustainability reports, all available on blood.ca.
As part of best practice, materiality assessments are refreshed every 2–3 years to ensure that sustainability priorities continue to align with stakeholder expectations and organizational priorities. This year, we’re expanding our outreach to include more stakeholders—most notably, our suppliers and our hospital customers.
We want to hear from you.
In the coming month or two, we’ll be launching a short (approximately 15-minute) survey to gather your input. Your voice matters—it’s a chance to tell us what you expect from us when it comes to sustainability.
Ahead of the survey launch, we’ll be hosting several short webinars (more details on these to come) to provide more context and answer any questions. Keep an eye out for more details soon. In the meantime, if you have questions or would like to learn more, please reach out to the sustainability team at sustainability@blood.ca.
National Advisory Committee on Blood and Blood Products update
NEW
The National Advisory Committee on Blood and Blood Products (NAC) and National Emergency Blood Management Committee (NEBMC) members welcome medical trainees under a Royal College accredited program to submit a request for permission to observe its committee function at a scheduled meeting to achieve specific educational objectives. See the Trainee Observer Guidance, Expectations & Request Form for further information and instruction.
- NAC & NEBMC Meeting Observation: Trainee Observer Guidance, Expectations & Request Form (July 17, 2025)
- NAC Confidentiality Agreement: Meeting Observers and Ad Hoc Attendees (July 17, 2025)
UPDATED
Major content and formatting revisions have been made to The National Plan for Management of Shortages of Labile Blood Components (July 14, 2025) to ensure the information throughout is up to date and relevant to the current blood system landscape in Canada as well as to improve consistency and readability.
The Transfusion and Cytomegalovirus in the Canadian Blood System Supported by Canadian Blood Services (July 17, 2025) recommendations have been updated to reflect international practice and Canadian recommendations regarding the safety profile of pre-storage leukoreduced red blood cells.
Also recently updated:
- NAC Endorsement: ICTMG Fetal and Neonatal Alloimmune Thrombocytopenia (FNAIT) Guidelines (July 17, 2025)
- NAC Endorsement with Caveats: Executive Summary of Recommendations and Expert Consensus for Plasma and Platelet Transfusion Practice in Critically III Children: From the Transfusion and Anemia EXpertise Initiative-Control/Avoidance of Bleeding (TAXI-CAB) (July 17, 2025)