There is still a lack of blood supplies in NRW. In the spring, there were already supply bottlenecks and now DRK has asked for donations again.
Cologne – In North Rhine-Westphalia lack of blood supply. The main reason is that Crown-Training, said Stephan David Küpper, spokesman for the blood donation service of the West German Red Cross (DRK).
Supplies in NRW are running out: the German Red Cross has asked for blood donations. © Oliver Berg / dpa
“It always hurts for blood donation when people start to be very mobile,” he told the German news agency. “Last October alone we would have liked to have welcomed nearly 64,000 people to donate blood – 57,700 donors showed up.”
Already in the spring there were bottlenecks in the supply. Now less than necessary has been donated. “We are not yet in a dramatic emergency like in May / June 2022, but we must take countermeasures now to best avoid this situation,” said Küpper.
Above all, there is a lack of regular donors. “We actually have a demographic problem,” she said. “We are slowly losing the baby boom generation as regular donors.” You can still donate until the age of 76. According to the DRK, it covers 75% of the blood needs of hospitals in North Rhine-Westphalia.
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The half liter of “whole blood” that is taken during the blood donation is transported and processed directly, explained Küpper. Platelets in the blood, which are important for cancer therapies, can only be stored for four to five days.
“This short shelf life also means we always have to take a close look at the holidays to supply hospitals.” Red blood cells and blood plasma, on the other hand, lasted longer and could therefore be stored better.
