The French Blood Establishment is calling for blood donation, especially for people in group 0 negative. Mobilization for blood donation must be daily because the shelf life of blood products is limited.
With the approach of a new long weekend and in a month dotted with public holidays, the French Blood Establishment (EFS) launched a new call for donors on Thursday, in particular those of the O negative group.
In May, “with the 4 public holidays and bridges, more than 25,000 blood bags will not be collected by the EFS teams. However, during this period, patients continue to need blood products to be cared for,” EFS said in a statement.
10,000 donations needed every day
And the shelf life of blood products is limited: 7 days for platelets, 42 days for red blood cells. Some 10,000 donations are needed every day to treat patients, for whom transfusions are essential, according to the establishment.
“For several weeks, the blood reserves have remained stable overall, but the pockets of one blood group have decreased sharply: group O, and in particular O rhesus negative”, specified the EFS.
O- group donors (known as “universal donors”), who represent only 6% of the population, have red blood cells that can be transfused to all patients, regardless of their blood group. They can only be transfused with blood cells of their own blood type.
A list of collection points is available on the website dondesang.efs.sante.fr or on the Blood Donation app.
