Blood donation figures were encouraging at the start of 2022
Credit: Photo d’illustration / Roxanne Gauthier
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1st quarter blood drives received 2,170 donors who had not come to donate for at least 3 years (+1,470 compared to 2021) and 419 who were unable to donate during their first donation (+272 compared to compared to 2021). Satisfactory and unprecedented figures, which can be explained by a stronger presence of blood donation through the various actions undertaken to mobilize citizens. It’s never too late to (re)take the rhythm of blood donation, even after several months / years without donation, Burgundians and Franc-Comtois are always welcome in collection.
New donors who are present
As of March 31, 2022, 3,740 donors reached out for the first time, which is 1,074 more than last year! The resumption of awareness-raising operations in high schools and on campuses, where the potential for new donors is high, seems to have borne fruit, which is good news for the French Blood Establishment. “We are back to a number of new donors almost equivalent to the pre-crisis period,” explains Christophe Barisien, regional head of direct debits. These new donors are essential because they take over from the 22,519 donors who left our files last year due to age limit or definitive contraindication. Introducing blood donation to new citizens also responds to a transfusion challenge: the more there are of them, the more the stocks of blood products will reflect the genetic diversity of the population and therefore of the needs of patients. This recruitment dynamic must now be maintained and everyone can contribute, donor or not: suggest that friends go and donate together, talk about it at family meals, put up blood donation posters and flyers in their company, relay EFS information on social networks, etc.
But declining blood product reserves
Today, blood product reserves are down, weakened by the Easter weekend and school holidays. If students are more difficult to mobilize as exams approach and during the summer, you can be a new donor at any age! The EFS therefore calls on those who have not yet pushed the doors of a collection to do so in the coming weeks. Then, a single keyword: regularity! Because blood products have a limited lifespan (42 days for red blood cells and 7 days for platelets), it is essential to mobilize over time by donating blood regularly. In Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, the average number of donations per year and per donor is 1.7.
Giving blood is getting ready
To donate, you must be between 18 and 70 years old, weigh at least 50 kg, feel in good shape / Find the collection closest to you on the Blood Donation website or app / Check that you can donate using the online questionnaire / Reserve the time slot of your choice to donate / Bring photo ID, make sure you are not fasting and feel good.
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