Dorothea von Contzen, team leader of the blood donation service, takes blood from the donors. (Björn Hake)
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The municipality of Oyten has been advising citizens for a long time to refrain from visits to the town hall that are not absolutely necessary due to the corona pandemic. A queue in front of the entrance is therefore anything but desirable. At least normally. But the fact that the queue sometimes extends to the parking lot on this Friday afternoon is probably in everyone’s interest. Because the German Red Cross has invited people to donate blood in the town hall’s community center – and many people follow this invitation. In order to do this good deed, don’t let temperatures around freezing stop you that day, which really don’t invite you to wait patiently outside.
After just an hour, the team can register more than 70 registrations. If you want to donate blood, you have to complete a few stations. After queuing outside the building, due to the pandemic, fever measurements and hand disinfection are due in the anteroom of the town hall. After registration, the donation form is filled out and a control measurement of the hemoglobin level follows. The blood donation then takes place in the town hall. Nine employees of the blood donation service are on site that day, and the donors can sit on 15 couches, which are of course disinfected after each change. Of course, there are also two doctors on site to provide information – especially for first-time donors. For 15 of those present it is the premiere this time in Oyten.
Dorothea von Contzen is the team leader of the blood donation team. In view of the high willingness to donate in Oyten, she speaks of a “very good appointment”. Of course, she also lends a hand and draws blood from the donors. 500 milliliters of the “juice of life” are tapped per person, the procedure usually takes between seven and nine minutes. According to Contzen, the maximum limit is 15 minutes, “then the scales switch off”. After the blood donation, all canned goods are trucked from Oyten to the institute of the blood donation service in Rastede, where they are not stored in the cold store for long. Because in the same night it goes on to Springe, where the blood control begins directly.
“In the past few weeks, the blood demand in clinics and medical facilities has been consistently high. Blood donations are therefore still urgently needed despite contact restrictions, ”says Andreas Mohrmann, area officer of the blood donation service, emphasizing how important it is to continue the campaigns despite the pandemic. Fortunately, the willingness to donate remains high in the region. “We were able to fulfill our supply mandate consistently except for a few days in May,” he says with satisfaction on the past year. The current security concept and strict approval regulations also guarantee a high level of protection for blood donors and recipients.
For the appointment in Oyten on that day, this means, in addition to the fever measurements at the entrance, of course that medical masks are required to be worn and greater distances than usual. In addition, the individual stations are to be walked through as a one-way street system. Anyone who has once been to the Rathaussaal leaves the building via the back exit towards the Rathauspark. The reward for the donors is also somewhat different than usual. In the times before the coronavirus outbreak you could look forward to a rich buffet, there are now small supply bags. These are filled with fruit, a chocolate bar, a sandwich or a yogurt. “The bags are very popular,” says Edith Esselmann from the DRK Oyten, who is busy equipping the doors with colleagues. The local association receives the money for this from the blood donation service in Hanover and purchases are made the day before. According to Esselmann, the DRK team needs “less preparation time and fewer staff” compared to the buffet.
Even so, she does not even come to the appointments during the pandemic to donate blood. Because in addition to the bags, she also has to take care of the vouchers for multiple donors. This time, Hans-G Schwittek from Achim (50th donation), Helga Wachlin from Oyten (75th donation) and Heinz-Hermann Warns from Oyten (100th donation) can look forward to a voucher – and get it again I especially thanked for being active as a lifesaver even under the special conditions. In the end, 226 people accepted the DRK’s invitation to Oyten this Friday. To the delight of Hendrik Frank from the DRK local group Oyten, who afterwards once again spoke of a “complete success”.
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