World Blood Donor Day DRC calls for blood donations

German Red Cretace calls for blood donations on World Blood Donor Day

06/15/2011

On June 14, the International World Blood Donor Day took place. On occasion, the German Red Cross (DRC) called on the German citizens to increase blood donations. With the World Blood Donor Day, the inventor of the blood donation, Dr. med. Karl Landsteiner, who was born on 14 June 1868. Given the increase in EHEC disease, donations are currently urgently needed to save lives.

Every year on World Blood Donor Day, attention is drawn to how necessary the solidary act of donating blood is. Every day, serious accidents occur, in which people lose life-threatening blood or medical intervention on the additional administration of blood is necessary. The intervention is only feasible because many people agree to donate their blood voluntarily. In view of the currently prevailing EHEC crisis, the German Red Cross is increasingly calling for blood donations. Several calls already increased donor readiness slightly.

Action event for blood donations
Information and action events took place on the occasion of World Blood Donor Day throughout Germany. Medical experts, experts and scientists in numerous speeches called on people to donate blood. Due to the EHEC epidemic, there is currently a greater need for blood supplies. Patients suffering from hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and suffering from severe EHEC symptoms have a particularly high need for donor blood. Deliveries of blood plasma in the last three weeks alone have consumed the supplies for four months at the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf. In Hamburg-Eppendorf more than 100 patients are receiving intensive care due to the HUS syndrome. So the managing director of the DRC Wilfried Mercks explained in a press conference: “Especially for patients who are suffering from the dangerous complication of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), blood plasma is needed.” Right now, people should not shy away from taking the blood donation.

15,000 blood donations are needed every day
Every day around 15,000 blood donations are consumed. This means that each year alone in the Federal Republic about 4.9 million whole blood donations are needed for the medical emergency. The DRK Blood Transfusion Services alone provide around 3.8 million blood donations each year. The DRK thus covers around 75 percent of all blood donations in Germany. The donations are voluntary and free of charge. In most cases a small medical check-up and a snack are offered in return. According to estimates by DRC experts, about 3 percent of adults regularly donate blood. Nevertheless, there are always bottlenecks.

Body regenerates quickly after a donation
The donor blood corresponds to only a very small proportion of the total body volume, so that the donated blood is replaced by the organism again. White blood cells are already regenerated after a day, with the red blood cells it takes a few days longer. The circulation of the donor has recovered but already after about 30 minutes. Blood donations are available to all healthy people between 18 and 70 years of age. If you donate blood for the first time, you should not have reached the age of 64. Each donor should have a minimum body weight of 50 kilograms. The donation process does not take longer than 15 to 20 minutes. For the whole process you should set yourself up for at least one hour. This includes regular waiting time, a medical examination by a doctor and the completion of a questionnaire. Male donors are advised not to donate blood more than six times a year. Women should not donate blood more than four times a year.

EHEC patients urgently need blood donations
Although the rate of new infections of the EHEC pathogen is slowly decreasing, the epidemic continues to keep the DRK Blood Donor Service North (BSD Nord) on its toes. Patients suffering from the serious consequences of the infectious disease require blood transfusions almost daily. Every day you need at least ten donors for the Hamburg-Eppendorf hospital alone. Since all reserves have already been used up, it is now necessary to request preparations for blood donation services from other DRCs nationwide. „We now have to rebuild plasma stoves as quickly as possible in order to be able to supply the seriously ill patients in the clinics even in the summertime“, explained Dr. Geert Geusendam from the DRK Nord.

Views could increase donation readiness
Already in the past week called the DRK and other blood donation organization for increased donations. According to the DRK Hamburg, an increase of 12 percent was achieved in Schleswig-Holstein and in the Hanseatic city. „We are especially happy about the numerous requests from new donors. We ask all those who also want to help to use the offered blood donation campaigns in their home environment, as our staffing capacity will not allow further action“, said Jens Lichte. All of the donor teams are working non-stop and the capacities are currently almost exhausted.

In the last eight days of the week, about 12,000 doses of blood plasma could be delivered to hospitals in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. This means an enormously increased amount, which became necessary due to the sometimes difficult EHEC progressions. For a seriously ill HUS patient, an average of 10 blood donors per day are needed. This amount is needed for therapy for a few days to weeks. In addition, numerous platelet concentrates are needed to treat the currently occurring TTP disease (thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura). (Sb)

Read about:
DRK rewards blood donations with special thanks
White blood cells in the urine
EHEC: DRK calls for blood donations
Canadian researchers convert skin into blood cells

Image: Herbert Käfer