Ratingen (dpa) – When a hospital needs blood for a patient, it is often a matter of life and death. But the fields of the DRK blood donation service, the largest supplier in North Rhine-Westphalia, are almost empty. “For some blood groups, the clinics currently receive only half of what they ask for,” says Stephan David Küpper from the Western Blood Donation Service in Ratingen.
Doctors with a little knack for improvisation could still ensure patient safety, experts say. But one long-term trend worries them: the population’s willingness to donate is steadily declining and shortages are increasing.
There are times of the year when the situation is traditionally particularly tense. In the summer, many loyal regular donors are on vacation. Winter is the time of colds and those who are sick cannot donate blood. But in the current flu wave it is especially bad.
The “absolutely red line” has been reached
According to the DRK Blood Donation Service West, it only has as many blood supplies in stock as hospitals use for their patients in one day, for example during operations, in cancer therapy or for accident victims. An “absolutely red line” has been reached with this title, warns Küpper. In reality, canned food should be available for five days. “The sick wave creates an emergency when giving blood.”
Large clinics in the West, which also have their own blood donation centers, are struggling with the same problems. “One should not be under any illusions: In the future we will have such a shortage of blood products much more frequently,” says Peter Horn, director of the Institute for Transfusion Medicine at the Essen University Hospital. Should the shortage become too great, non-essential operations would have to be postponed as a first step. In the worst case, however, it could also happen “that we are no longer able to supply in the event of a major disaster”.
The baby boom cohorts, when there were even more loyal blood donors, were aging and tended to switch from blood donors to blood recipients. “At the same time, we clearly notice a lower willingness to donate among young people,” says the professor of transfusion medicine.
How to encourage young people to donate blood?
Overall, only three percent of the population able to donate actually give blood. In cities there are still significantly fewer of them than in the countryside. This further aggravates the situation in North Rhine-Westphalia: less blood is donated in metropolitan areas, while at the same time there are many large clinics that treat even particularly complicated cases. “Basically we need more people who take responsibility for patients through their regular blood donation,” emphasizes DRK spokesman Küpper.
This is why the industry is struggling to find good approaches to attract especially young donors. blood donation services become more digital, develop your own apps. On social networks, the subject becomes more emotional, for example by telling the stories of young people whose lives have been saved and given a new future by donating blood. The Düsseldorf University Hospital woos young donors with small gifts: New donors receive a cinema voucher, regular donors a small cheque. But donating blood for money is controversial in the industry.
The Red Cross, with its extensive blood donation service, also counts on the support of politicians and companies. If employees received time credit from their boss for their blood donation, that would be an incentive, says DRK spokesman Küpper. “We don’t just take half a liter of blood from people, but above all a little time”. Health insurance companies might reward a blood donation as part of their bonus programs. And in schools, he suggests, the subject could be given a regular place in biology lessons.
Where does my blood donation go?
The NRW state government, on the other hand, points out that according to the law, blood donation services are responsible for supplying blood products to the population. The government supports it: members of the government have written letters to municipalities and companies in the country asking that the premises be made available for blood donation campaigns. “Basically, the Ministry considers the blood supply to the population safe,” says a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health.
The German Society for Transfusion Medicine and the Blood Working Group of the Robert Koch Institute are pursuing the goal of collecting more valid data on the supply of blood products, also to make the urgency of the topic clear to politicians.
Ultimately, though, it’s all about convincing every single potential blood donor, say the experts. For example, Horn would like blood donors to know exactly what their blood is used for. “When you know: My blood donation just saved the life of a cancer patient during an operation, then you realize what a life-giving and life-saving gift it is.”
