The EFS, a French blood establishment, is always looking for donations, but some do not dare to get started due to lack of information. The Clermont-Ferrand Donation House clears away some preconceived ideas and informs first-time donors.
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Do you want to donate blood for the first time, but you don’t know if you are eligible? Don’t know the process? Caroline Pasquier, communications manager at the French Blood Establishment in Clermont-Ferrand, answers all the questions asked by first-time donors.
There are not many prohibitive conditions for donating blood: being under 18 years old or weighing less than 50 kilos. However, “you need to be in good health in general. If in doubt, you can go to the EFS website and do a short online test. We see immediately whether or not we are eligible to donate blood. When you have medical treatment, you should know that there are very few medications that prevent you from donating blood”reassures Caroline Pasquier. At the end of the phone, a doctor is also available to answer the most specific questions, which allows you to know if you can donate blood. “and not come to a collection, unfortunately, for nothing”.
“As soon as there has been a small opening in the skin, whether it is a slightly deep scaling, the pulling of a tooth, a piercing, a tattoo or a colonoscopy, all situations where it there may be a small bacteria that has slipped in, the time before you can donate blood is 4 months. Then for travel, it depends on the country, we cannot make generalizations, it is really on a case by case basis”indicates Caroline Pasquier. The restrictions do not apply to travel to most European countries: “It’s more in countries with a tropical climate where there can be diseases that we don’t necessarily have in France.”
All profiles are sought to deal with all emergencies. “Within blood groups, there is a category called rare blood. These are people generally from the African continent. There are also diseases that require the donation to come from people who have the same ethnic origins as the patient. There is sickle cell anemia (a genetic disease that affects red blood cells and causes anemia, infections and painful crises, Editor’s note), where people need very regular transfusions to avoid suffering too much. Only people who have the same origins can meet this need. In each category, depending on the origins, we must always have sufficient stock”says Caroline Pasquier. Volunteers can donate blood, from 18 to 70 years old.
She recommends making an appointment to streamline the process and limit waiting time. “You must always present yourself with an identity document. This is, in particular, to check whether the time between two donations has been respected.” Once the identity has been verified, a questionnaire of around forty very simple questions must be completed. “When the questionnaire is completed, we see a doctor, it lasts less than 10 minutes and if it is validated we proceed to the sample. It’s 10 to 12 minutes, a blood donation, no more. The most pleasant moment is the snack, after the donation, where we check that everything is okay. When it’s a first donation, the person is supported from start to finish so everything always goes very well.” A period of 8 weeks must be respected between 2 blood donations, 15 days between 2 plasma donations. Rest assured, the process is no more painful than a blood test. “The nurses are always very delicate, explaining each gesture that is carried out.”
She advises coming at the start of the day “so as not to have all the fatigue of the day in your body.“Before donating, you should eat fairly healthy, not very fatty and above all hydrate well. “It’s the opposite of a blood test, you should definitely not come on an empty stomach. You have to eat well, hydrate well, be rested. If you didn’t have time for lunch, you can have lunch at the Maison du don. We adapt to all situations and all profiles”reassures Caroline Pasquier.
In addition to the two daily mobile collections, the Clermont-Ferrand Donation Center welcomes volunteers on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Private parking is available, and the tram takes donors a few dozen meters from the Maison du don via the CHU Gabriel-Montpied stop.
Yes, according to Caroline Pasquier: “You can drive without difficulty after 20 minutes of monitoring. If you feel a little dizzy, a little tired, you stay as long as you need to feel in good shape and be able to leave.”
Every week, around 70 volunteers come forward, all donations combined. In Auvergne Rhône-Alpes, a minimum of 1,400 donations per day are required. The extra, if any, is shipped to other deficit regions.
