Addressing Blood Donor Shortages: The Critical Need for Donations in the Balearic Islands

“We try to be self-sufficient, but in summer the people who usually donate are on vacation, while the tourists who come need blood, but don’t donate it,” he reveals. Rosa Fernandez, a nurse from the Banc de Sang. “In summer the blood supply goes down, but the demand goes up,” she says.

Rosa Fernández explains that in summer they must “cover all the contingencies of regular patients; tumors, leukemia…»but with the increase in population there are “many more accidents” and they have the “obligation to have enough inventory to cover eventualities.”

The Balearic Islands is one of the autonomous communities with the fewest blood donors. To be able to donate blood, it is enough to weigh more than 50 kilograms, be between 18 and 65 years old and be in good health. Men can donate up to four times a year and women three.

Only 2.8% of the Balearic population that meets these conditions donates blood, far from the almost 5% of donors who have communities such as Extremadura and Castilla y León.

“There is a lot of room for growth,” he explains. Teresa Jimenezmedical director of the Banc de Sang de Baleares, «the usual donors are very supportive people, but we need more, “he says. According to Jiménez, the increase should not be very high: “If instead of 2.8% we had 3.5% there would be no problem at all.”

«We need at least 200 donations a day so as not to have problems with reservations”, reveals Rosa Fernández.

The Banc de Sang reported that, currently, they only have 157 units of blood from type 0+ and 51 of type -0which is equivalent to covering the blood demand of “just one day”.

In this sense, they stressed that these units are “essential” to attend emergency situations and patients with chronic diseases who depend on transfusions to live.

Type 0 blood units are essential for the blood bank. He -0 is the universal donor and if a patient arrives at the clinic and their blood group is not known, they will always be inoculated with this type of blood.

“Another problem is that blood groups are inheritedthat’s why in Majorca, where the most typical group is the A+, there is such a scarcity of -0. While in the north of Spain there is a surplus, ”explains Rosa Fernández.

However, the nurse states that it is necessary for people who are from the A+ group to donate, since “even if they are from the bunch, there are many people in that bunch that need the blood.”

“Blood does not heal, but it saves lives, and it cannot be manufactured”, explains Teresa Jiménez. “The responsibility lies with the citizens, we cannot wait for blood to arrive from the peninsula,” she says.

Interestingly, despite the low number of blood donors, The Balearic Islands are “leader in apheresis donation”that is, in the platelet donation. This donation is a little longer and consists of extracting the blood, taking the necessary elements from it and returning it to the user. “You can donate every 15 days and in the Balearic Islands we do not have any type of problem in the platelet reserve thanks to the great generosity of our donors,” explains Jiménez.

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Nurse Rosa Fernández explains that “most people who come to donate for the first time It is because it has touched them closely, because a relative of theirs has needed blood and that has made them think ».

“It makes no sense not to donate blood if you are healthy,” he says Francesc Alcover, a young regular donor. Alcover explains that it took him “a long time to donate for the first time”, but ended up coming to the conclusion that it is a practice that “It saves lives and costs very little.”

The Banc de Sang i Teixits de Baleares is located at Calle Rosselló i Cazador, 20 (Palma), and its hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturdays. In addition, it has different donation places on the different islands.

“The holidays are a star time to start being a blood donor,” explains Teresa Jiménez. “During the summer we have a lot of free time, the facilities have air conditioning and there are great nurses. It is a very pleasant place to spend an afternoon or a morning”, says Jiménez.