Blood supply clinics fear bottlenecks

Blood supply: clinics fear bottlenecks

07/13/2014

Clinics and aid organizations called for blood donation before the start of the holiday season in Baden-Württemberg. During the holiday season bottlenecks threatened in the blood supply, because there are too few donors. Hip-hop and blood-red cocktails promote donors.

Higher donations in the summer months needed
In Baden-Württemberg clinics and aid organizations called for blood donation before the start of the holiday season. A spokesman for the Freiburg University Hospital said there were bottlenecks in the blood supply during the holiday season, as there were not enough donors. The donations declined significantly, especially in the holiday weeks, which leads to problems in the emergency and medical care. All latches in the country are affected. Especially in the summer months, a higher willingness to donate is needed.

Football World Cup leads to decline in donations
According to a message from the news agency dpa, the head of the blood donation center in Freiburg, Markus Umhau said: „Only if clinics have enough donor blood can they save lives.“ But the hospitals came to their limits in the summer, there was not enough blood available. Therefore, the clinics would have to specifically promote donors. Umhau explained that already the World Cup had led to a decline in donations: „If people can watch football or go to the pool, they will not donate blood.“

Midnight donations with blood red cocktails
Hospitals are increasingly focusing on actions to attract blood donors. Freiburg, for example, organized a midnight donation with blood-red cocktails and a hip-hop concert on the night of Saturday. „We need regular donations because blood does not last long“, said the spokeswoman for the blood donation service of the German Red Cross (DRK) Baden-Württemberg, Stefanie Fritzsche. A decline in donations is also recorded in the DRC. To counteract this, the advertising is reinforced. For example, on the 4th of August, at the start of the summer holidays, an action day is planned at the Tripsdrill amusement park in Cleebronn (Heilbronn district), where every blood donor receives free admission to the park.

Circulation recovers quickly after donation
As a rule, first-time donors should be between 18 and 65 years old and healthy. Before taking the blood, the donors are examined and questioned by a doctor, for example about possible previous stays in the tropics. After this quick health check, the actual donation can be made. The inexperienced do not have to worry: the donor's blood is replaced by the organism again, as it corresponds to only a very small proportion of the total body volume. White blood cells are regenerated after just one day, and red blood cells take a few days longer. However, the donor's circulation has already recovered after about half an hour. Blood donors are paid at the clinics with a small amount of money. In principle donors receive no money from the German Red Cross. (Ad)