Blood from all groups is needed to ensure the work of the hospital, since for example in heart surgery three to twelve bags of blood are used. Reserves are still low for all groups, especially group 0, so the Blood Treatment and Blood Donation Center of Castile and León (Chemcyl) asks and urges that such donations should be made “as soon as possible”. The Blood Treatment and Blood Donation Center echoed the situation with a message on social networks, calling for donations and remembering that the zero reserve is “very low”. “Donate as soon as possible,” Chemcyl insisted on its official accounts of AB-, B+ and B-, although there is no deficit, the reserves are also very low.
One problem that the Blood Treatment and Blood Donation Centers face when organizing blood draws at specific locations on these dates, such as this Wednesday in Asaha Palencia, is that the requirement for donation is the absence of symptoms of illness or the absence of the illness at birth symptoms. In recent days, I have not taken any medication to relieve the discomfort caused by the flu. “During the past two weeks, have you had a fever accompanied by headache and general malaise?” This is one of the questions in the questionnaire that every donor must fill out, and if the answer is yes, no withdrawal is allowed. Likewise, having been vaccinated in the last month was also a barrier.
The return of the Christmas school holidays or days off for active workers coincides with an epidemiological situation that results in a high proportion of the population experiencing symptoms of respiratory illness, influenza or coronavirus. This situation reduces the influx of blood donors to comply with blood treatment center requirements or simply to donate blood.
The agricultural organization Asaja proposed a partnership with Chemcyl on Wednesday. This morning the training room in the Biggar Center building was converted into a makeshift donation center and nothing was lost except for more donors missed by the blood donation center team itself.
In Palencia, a total of 6,465 plasma draws (436 plasmas) were registered in the year just ended, a decrease of 1.96% compared to 2022’s 6,592 cases. During the summer, the volume of blood collection decreases, which is one of the keys to the reduction of blood bags in Palencia in 2023. To the decrease in the number of blood bags, we must add that blood donors are getting older and they can no longer donate blood (in principle, under 65 years old), so the fraternity strives to attract a younger audience.
A slight decrease was also seen at the district level, with a total of 108,640 blood donations, 0.91% less than the same period last year, of which 109,636 (chemical-based) were donated, according to the latest balance provided by regional blood treatment centers and blood donation centres.
By province, the number of donations registered in 2023 is as follows: Avila 5,428 (507 plasma); El Bierzo 4,910 (350 plasma); Burgos 20,361 (1,249 plasma); León 12,126 (953 plasma); Sala Manca 12,779 (1,014 plasmas); Segovia 6,465 (435 plasmas); Soria 4,793 (496 plasmas); Valladolid 27,893 (2,367 plasmas); and Zamora 5,092 (433 plasmas). The volume of plasma withdrawals increased significantly by 38.77%, from 5,938 plasma exchanges in the previous year to 8,240 in 2023.
The Center for Blood Treatment and Blood Donation has a mobile unit to facilitate citizen collaboration, which has been reflected in the 2023 collection of 745. Donated blood undergoes a complex process to separate into three main components (so-called fractionation), namely red blood cells, platelets and plasma, as each component has specific properties and is used to treat different types of diseases.
Red blood cells are mainly used for surgery, transplantation, anemia or bleeding, while platelets are used for transfusion in cancer and leukemia patients to prevent and treat bleeding or platelet deficiency. On its own, plasma can be used directly for transfusions or for protein extraction, which can be used to treat various conditions such as hemophilia, bleeding, burns or kidney disease.
Donating blood is a supportive and important act that can save up to three lives in just fifteen minutes. The requirements for doing this are to be over 18 years old, weigh at least 50 kilograms, and not have or have had any blood-borne diseases. Men can donate up to four times a year, and women can donate up to three times.