Hospital managers are appealing for blood donors to come forward after the weekend's shootings.

Numbers of blood donors on the Island have plummeted by 50 percent in the past decade after a ruling was introduced preventing thousands of expats from donating.

Because of this, they are looking for Bermudians to come forward to give blood to help make up for the shortfall.

Spokeswoman for KEMH said on Friday: "Our current supply of blood should sustain us through the long weekend. However, if there is any further major impact on our blood supply we may need to look at an emergency clinic."

However, this weekends shootings left four men hospitalised and one man dead, which put a strain on the short supply.

Yesterday she said: "The trauma over the weekend has depleted our stocks. While we are not at a critical level, we do need a higher number of donors than usual this week and would ask anyone who is interested in donating to contact us at 236 5067."

The expat ruling was introduced by the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB), which incorporates Bermuda, around ten years ago amid fears over Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (CJD), the human form of BSE. It states anyone who has spent more than six months in the UK or Europe in the period 1980 to 1996 cannot give blood.

Since the ruling was implemented, numbers of donors on the Island have dropped from 3,000 to 2,000.

Dr. Betsie Lombard, of the hospital's blood transfusion service, previous said the ruling is unfortunate but they have to be cautious about the possible spreading of BSE.

People who want to give blood visit the Red Cross Donor Centre, where they are asked a series of questions to determine their suitability to donate.

A donor has his or her blood pressure measured and is then put on a bed where one pint of blood is taken.

The spokeswoman said: "We will be holding our regular clinics next week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday between 8.30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

"We have dedicated parking spaces for blood donors in our visitor's car park to make it a smooth and efficient process and new chairs that make donating extremely comfortable."

"We are very thankful for our regular donors making time and hope that people who have not donated before might also consider helping to save lives in Bermuda by donating blood this week. Just call to make an appointment."