Blood donors are desperately needed as two serious cases have left King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) stock severely depleted.

In particular, the Centre is looking for people with O positive or O negative blood types, but Betsie Lombard, medical director of the hospital's blood transfusion service, said they would be happy to receive any type.

She said the Centre tries to keep the stocks full with 30 to 40 units, but it is currently down to about 19.

With the weekend coming, she is concerned they would be able to handle one accident, but perhaps not two.

"We have certain stock numbers that we keep so if anything happens we can cover it. Going into the weekend, we can handle one, but not more than one accident," she said.

"At least before the weekend we want to make sure we have our normal numbers. If we could get at least 30 that would be great, but we would appreciate as many as we can get."

Stocks were depleted last week when a patient in surgery started bleeding more than was expected.

Dr. Lombard said the hospital had just started to restock the bank when a second patient came in.

The woman, who cannot be named for privacy reasons, entered the hospital Wednesday night with a peptic ulcer, bleeding excessively.

As of last night, when units were down to 19, she was still using blood.

Two severe cases back to back do not usually happen, Dr. Lombard said, adding there is no need for panic as the hospital would map a plan if necessary.

"We have had two cases of catastrophic bleeding which we could not predict. The first was last week and we had just restocked our blood bank when we had another.

"If there are two accidents over the weekend we would not be able to handle it. So we need to restock. Over the last few months our average usage has increased by almost 80 units a month.

"Maybe because of the vehicle accidents and the new treatment protocols we are using more blood.

"We try to keep 30 units of Type O. If we can, 40 is preferable. We usually use 40 units a week and the past week we have used approximately 75 units. As you can see we need donors.

"It's one of those things that happens now and then and it's difficult to predict. If we have to, we can import, but that's the last resort."

The Donor Centre is located on the first floor of KEMH. It is open today between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Anyone wishing to make an appointment can call 236-5067.