With the proximity of a new long weekend and in a month dotted with holidays, the French Blood Establishment (EFS) launched this Thursday a new call for donors, in particular those of the O negative group.
In May, “with the 4 holidays and bridges, the EFS teams will not collect more than 25,000 bags of blood. However, during this period, patients continue to need blood products to be cared for,” EFS said in a statement.
10,000 donations needed every day
And the shelf life of blood products is limited: 7 days for platelets, 42 days for red blood cells. Every day some 10,000 donations are needed to treat patients, for whom transfusions are essential, according to the establishment.
“For several weeks, the blood reserves have remained stable in general, but the bags of one blood group have decreased considerably: the group O, and in particular the O rhesus negative”, specified the EFS.
Group O donors (known as “universal donors”), which make up only 6% of the population, have red blood cells that can be transfused to all patients, regardless of their blood group. They can only be transfused with blood cells from their own blood group.
A list of the collection points can be seen on the dondesang.efs.sante.fr website or on the Don de sang app.
Source: BFM TV
