In Cantal, the year 2022 will not go down in history. The French Blood Establishment there recorded a drop of 1,000 donations on its mobile collections, the only way to donate blood in the department.
It is a consolidated organization: in a few minutes the municipal dojo of Ytrac, in Cantal, becomes a blood collection centre. “Everyone knows what to do, what to wear… Every box is registered, everything is in its place. We unpack and then repack in about half an hour” says Monique Belon, EFS referent physician. In Cantal, mobile collections like this one are the only way to donate blood. One way to get closer to donors. Michel Soulier lives 3km away. He is a regular blood donor. He is one of the first to settle. “I always tell myself that one day maybe I will need it. It’s a small gesture, just half an hour is enough, two or three times a year, it’s really nothing. »
The local blood donor association organizes 5 collections a year with, lately, the same observation: a decline in donations, as indicated by Pierre Mestries, president of the local blood donor association: “This year we shoot 70-60 for each collection. It’s a bit sad to see that it decreases with each collection and, unfortunately, falls everywhere. »
If the number of donors remains stable, 6,000 regular donors in Cantal, it is the number of donations made each year that is decreasing: less than 9,000, i.e. 1,000 fewer than in 2021. “If we want people from Condat or elsewhere to come and donate blood, they must have a collection nearby. The organization is on the scale of the former cantons and in some cantons there are several collection points, always with the aim of getting closer to the donors so that they come»., explains Albert Vinas, president of the Cantal blood donor association. By sending e-mails, text messages, poster campaigns, blood donor associations and EFS try in every way to retain and attract new donors. Even if it also means seducing them on a plate, with tripoux for a snack.
