In April 2020, so many people wanted to donate blood that the bags even ran out.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
All you have to do is take a quick look around and count to three – one of these people at the breakfast table at home, in a café or on the S-Bahn has ever needed a blood supply or will still do so, according to the statistics.
Roman Maier from Steinhöring had exactly this experience. In 1985 the master blacksmith suffered a serious traffic accident in which he lost a lot of blood. He was then in the clinic for three months. Two or three years later, the decision to become a donor was made. The 58-year-old has already done it 77 times since then. His blood group zero negative is particularly valuable because everyone can tolerate it. And not only he: The Sensauer has also recruited his three children and numerous friends. He usually goes to the appointment with a group of up to eleven people. The only thing that the specials miss is the sociability of bygone days: “In the past, people would sit down afterwards over beer, coffee or coke.” Today you get a bag with giveaways plus sweets or, in high demand, pasta with tomato sauce at the exit. It was almost like his childhood, reports the head of the BRK readiness Ebersberg Günter Obergrusberger, who can now look back on 46 years of voluntary work at the Red Cross: “Whenever mom was donating, there was Mirácoli afterwards!”
Roman Maier has already been to donate 77 times.
(Photo: private)
Patrick Nohe from the blood donation service of the Bavarian Red Cross (BSD) puts the need in Germany at more than 15,000 cans per day, in Bavaria it is around 2000, i.e. around 1000 liters. However, these are only administered in large quantities to victims of road, sports, occupational and household accidents in the popular doctor series. These also benefit, but according to the BSD, blood products are mainly used for chronic diseases in which those affected sometimes have to be transfused for years. You also need a supply for planned interventions in the event of unforeseen incidents.
This total requirement will lead to problems across Germany in the summer of 2021, whereby the emergency supply was and is always guaranteed. However, significantly more operations are currently taking place (not in Ebersberg, but at other locations) than in previous months. The BSD attributes this to pandemic-related postponements – which also applies to a completely different area, that of potential donors. This is because, according to the assumption, they are currently using every opportunity for travel and relaxation – as long as the weather and incidences allowed this. This leads to fluctuations that bothered the blood donation service.
There was a “wave of solidarity”, i.e. the general willingness to donate, also and especially during the pandemic – especially in Ebersberg. Around 900 of the 1,700 liters of blood donated in the entire district association came together there in 2020. Obergrusberger remembers: “At the meeting in the secondary school in April 2020, the queue almost reached up to the supermarkets.” It was calculated with 200 donors, and soon twice as many came – but with 322 bags the capacities were exhausted. Particularly gratifying: More than a third of them were first-time donors at the time.
Magdalena Capelle is now also promoting blood donation in her circle of friends.
(Photo: private)
Magdalena Capelle wasn’t one of them at the time, the 22-year-old Grafinger doesn’t like needles. But because her friend, a member of the volunteer fire brigade, and his buddy have been donating for a long time, she did the same in February 2021. Her boyfriend had previously given her tips: drink a lot and eat enough. That helped. “In addition, everyone was very, very nice and understood my fear. In the end, I was really pleasantly surprised: Even setting the needle was nowhere near as bad as I had expected. I felt very well looked after – the support afterwards and meanwhile it was incredibly pleasant, “states the youth leader at the Alpine Club, who has already encouraged a friend to go to the next appointment. She was not only motivated by the feeling that she had helped up to three people with her donation, but also by the thought that she might find herself in a situation where she needed canned food.
Thanks to the online scheduling of appointments, anyone who wants to donate can do so much more easily than before, says Obergrusberger, which saves long waiting times. Obviously, many see it that way, the registration on the net is very well received. In addition, there are three to four places per time slot for those who have not registered who spontaneously decide to donate blood at the BRK when they see the banner.
Whether registered online or spontaneously, donations are made by about as many men as women, on average they are around 40 years old. This is based on data from the Paul Ehrlich Institute, where the total number of donations is evaluated. If you look at the figures up to 2019 (more recent values are not yet available), these have decreased by around 14 percent since 2000. The Red Cross with its mobile stations is responsible for around 75 percent of the total volume of 3,753,674 liters, the rest comes from campaigns in other organizations, at clinics or in the armed forces.
Again Nohe: “About five percent of the (theoretically) donor-capable population in the Free State ensure adequate supplies by going to bloodletting, nationwide it is about 3.5 percent. But because something is constantly needed, this is a marathon, not a sprint. And: Anyone who donates in Ebersberg can also save someone’s life at Tegernsee. “
These images are well known: people are lying next to each other on stretchers, each with a needle in their arms. But what happens afterwards with the approximately 500 milliliters of blood removed? The blood donation service of the Bavarian Red Cross is responsible for transport and processing in the Free State. The non-profit GmbH operates under the umbrella of the Red Cross, but finances itself completely independently, without government grants, subsidies or donations. The BSD brings the blood to its production center in Wiesentheid, where it has to be filtered, centrifuged, separated into its various components and processed within 24 hours. At the same time, three additionally filled tubes go to the laboratory to be examined for pathogens such as hepatitis, syphilis and HIV. Only then will the donation be approved.
The following blood products are obtained from a donation: Plasma, which can be frozen for three years, is used, for example, for coagulation disorders and severe burns. Red cell concentrate, which has a shelf life of 42 days, is used, for example, in operations and serious injuries, as well as in regular transfusions.
Platelet concentrate can only be kept for five days. It is needed, among other things, in cancer therapies and immune diseases. A special feature applies here, however, because this highly sensitive product cannot be obtained on the move with one of the usual whole blood donations, but the collection must be carried out in a stationary manner. However, if you meet the necessary requirements, you can contact the blood donation service. mip
The nice thing about it: Everyone can take part in this exercise. Even those who are out of the question, whether for medical or personal reasons, can get involved: by motivating those around them to donate. If the appointment is fully booked, also in the neighboring district. As a gift to other people or for the hopefully extremely unlikely event that you become a “third party” yourself.
The blood donation campaign of the Red Cross Ebersberg will take place on Wednesday and Thursday, August 25 and 26, 3 to 8 p.m. at the BRK district association, Zur Gass 5. You must bring an official photo ID and blood donation card (does not apply to first-time donors). There is a mask requirement.