Sirens are more than just a sound when it means the difference between life and death. Canadian Blood Services (CBS) will be putting that sound to the test for the 12th annual Sirens for Life blood donor campaign.

The campaign, which started on Jan. 2 and runs until the 31st, partners with those who see the need for blood first hand- emergency service workers. This includes the Lethbridge Fire Department/EMS, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Lethbridge Regional Police Services (LRPS.)

This year’s theme, “someone still needs your help,” rings true for the many first responders. The province-wide campaign hopes to see 12,000 donations, with Lethbridge contributing around 1,200 donations. A goal to save around 911 lives says Shamus Neeson, community development coordinator-Lethbridge for CBS.

Neeson is confident in the goal and says they get all types of people donating whether it is someone who was in an accident, just realizes the need or is a first responder. “The response is always very strong from these guys (first responders) because they have been personally affected by the need for blood,” says Neeson.

Dana Terry, Deputy Chief of Fire and EMS operations for the City of Lethbridge has participated in Sirens for Life in years past. Beginning his career as a fire fighter and paramedic, he knows they always need more participants and donors.

“We have first hand experience dealing with situations where people need blood and they need it urgently and that’s not the time where you need to have people donating, you need it long before that ever happens so that they’ve got it in the bank so that it’s ready to go,” says Terry.

Anyone interested in donating can do so by appointment at www.blood.ca or by calling 1-888-2 DONATE.