You’re invited to the Virtual Tour!

Author: Kaylee C. L. Brooks, PhD, Knowledge Mobilization Coordinator, Canadian Blood Services

Canadian Blood Services’ new Virtual Tour provides an easy to access, highly visual introduction to the journey of a blood donation from donor to recipient and is now available on Canadian Blood Services professional education website, Profedu.ca.

The Virtual Tour leads users through the step-by-step journey of a whole blood donation from vein-to-vein using an online, interactive and self-paced format spread across 9 sections. These Tour ‘stops’, provide an overview of Canadian Blood Services’ processes for collection, manufacturing, testing, labelling, storage and distribution, while highlighting donor and recipient stories. Though this educational resource is designed for healthcare professionals, anyone interested in learning about the blood system in Canada is welcome to take the Tour. This is emphasized by the different learning paths that users can take. Clicking through the main pages provides an overview of the blood system that can be completed in about 45 minutes, or users can take a deep dive into transfusion medicine by clicking on the curated links of resources from across Profedu.ca and blood.ca.

To develop the Tour, Dr. Melanie Bodnar, a Medical Officer with Canadian Blood Services, and co-investigators Dr. Sophie Chargé, Dr. Matthew Yan, Tricia Abe, Dr. Bryan Tordon, and Dr. Gwen Clarke received support from the 2021 competition of Canadian Blood Services’ BloodTechNet Award Program. This program facilitates the development of innovative educational projects in the transfusion, cellular therapy and transplantation communities in Canada. Together, the team of investigators, subject matter experts and many teams from across Canadian Blood Services, developed and refined the Tour content. A special thanks to Canadian Blood Services’ communications team who sourced high-quality, engaging photos from a variety of facilities and the IT team who brought the Tour pages to life. Further thanks go to the members of Canadian Blood Services’ knowledge mobilization and strategic alliances, medical, product and process development, stakeholder engagement, communications, and IT teams for comprehensive testing processes prior to publication.

As an organization that regularly engages with healthcare professionals and trainees, Canadian Blood Services recognizes the importance of providing these individuals with a foundational understanding of Canada’s blood system to support their professional development. Given Canada’s expansive geography, not all learners have access to an in-person tour of Canadian Blood Services’ facilities, and this Virtual Tour provides an online alternative that can be accessed anywhere and anytime. Take your Virtual Tour today by visiting Canadian Blood Services’ professional education website, Profedu.ca.