2023-08-28 05:00:00
Arms dangling, Doctor Fabien Lassurguere walks into the sampling room. “All the beds are empty,” he breathes, his eyes worried. In recent weeks, blood donors have deserted French blood establishments. Traditionally, collection campaigns are organized on the Aquitaine coast. The latter allow the blood of holidaymakers to be collected…
Arms dangling, Doctor Fabien Lassurguere walks into the sampling room. “All the beds are empty,” he breathes, his eyes worried. In recent weeks, blood donors have deserted French blood establishments. Traditionally, collection campaigns are organized on the Aquitaine coast. These make it possible to collect the blood of holidaymakers and remedy the drop in donations in large cities. According to the first announcements, the expected results have not been achieved, the number of donations has recorded an estimated drop of between five and ten percent, compared to previous years. In New Aquitaine, as in the rest of France, reserves are slowly starting to run out. However, adult men can give blood six times in a year, this figure drops to four for women. “In the region, we always try to have around 10,000 bags of blood in reserve. Currently, we are more around 8,200. The blood stock is starting to become worrying, ”says Fabien Lassurguere.
On average, the time for a blood drive lasts ten minutes.
Jean-Maurice Each/ “South West”
Regionally, Bordeaux and its metropolis represent 25% of blood collections. “When Bordeaux coughs, it’s the whole region that has the cold”, image Fabien Lasuguere. Although all donors are obviously welcome, people with a negative rhesus or a blood group belonging to the O family, which is much less common, remain very popular profiles.
A need for new donations
The heat wave of the past few days may have slowed down some donors. During these periods of high heat, French establishments ask donors to hydrate themselves accordingly before each collection. The temperature around 40 degrees, does not prevent some donors from pushing the doors of the Maison du don at the Pellegrin hospital. Christelle and Thierry, respectively 49 and 51, sip fruit juice and swallow some cakes following donating blood. “At work, I have a colleague who donates blood very regularly, she had an impediment. I made a commitment to do it in his place, but it had been more than ten years since I had donated my blood,” says Christelle. For his part, donating his blood was absolutely not on the program for Thierry. Indeed, the man who was phobic of needles gave his blood for the first time. It was a poster posted in the waiting room of the Maison du Don that made him change his mind. “When I saw that a single donation might potentially save three lives, I took the plunge. Initially, I just came to accompany my wife,” he laughs.
The French Nouvelle-Aquitaine Blood Establishment tries to keep a stock of 10,000 bags.
Jean-Maurice Each/ “South West”
Always faced with the problem of loyalty, the staff of French blood establishments is constantly looking for donors. “As long as all the criteria are met, everyone can donate blood,” insists Fabien Lasuguere.
Practical: The Maison du don is open Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
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