Blood donation : it is time !

lightpoet / Epictura

Published the 17.12.2017 at 14h06

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gift of the sangEFSnoeltransfusions sanguinesglobules rougesplaquettes

A good action with the approach of Christmas ? While the year-end holidays are looming, and as supplies dwindle, the French Establishment of blood (EFS) call on all French people to donate their blood, in one of the 128 collection centres of the territory.

“The blood supply is in decline for the past ten days and are now too fragile to approach in safety the beginning of the new year,” says the DFT in its press release. It is therefore urgent to mobilize, for a collection that usually lasts less than an hour.

Unlike other countries, like the United States, blood donation in France is based on the principle of volunteerism, like all organ donations. The ethical imperative, the voluntary donation and free is also a health security : in the country where the gift is chargeable, it happens that some of the donors, motivated by greed, lie at the interview prior to the removal.

A week of reserve

The downside is that the EFS is often confronted with a risk of a shortage, and should pull the alarm at regular intervals. This is particularly the case during the summer, when people go on vacation, and at the approach of the festivals of end of the year, because of the departures and weather conditions that complicate the sampling.

About one million patients receive a blood transfusion each year. But the blood products have a limited shelf life : 5 days for platelets, 42 days for red blood cells. To meet the need for transfusion in the country, therefore it takes an average of 10 000 donations per day. Gold, specifies the EFS, ” there are only 78 000 pockets of blood in stock “. The equivalent of one week of reservation.

“By offering 45 minutes of their time, of which only a dozen for sample collection, blood donors make a gesture helpful and generous,” recalls the EFS, which invites all volunteers to participate in the collection. As a Christmas gift before time.