The French Blood Establishment has sounded the alarm on its social networks: “blood supplies are dangerously low” throughout the country. The organization calls for everyone to mobilize during the holidays.
- Each year, nearly 1 million patients are cared for thanks to blood donation according to the EFS.
- But everywhere in France, blood supplies are low, which is why the EFS calls for the mobilization of all.
- It would be necessary to take 10,000 samples per day to be able to meet the needs of health establishments in France.
Red alert ! “In France, blood supplies are dangerously low”. This is the alarming message published by the French Blood Establishment (EFS) on his social networks Monday, December 19, accompanied by another publication with a map of France and a flashing “red alert” to show that the problem concerns the whole territory.
More than 20,000 blood bags are missing from the EFS
“Less than 80,000 blood bags are available today when more than 100,000 are needed to meet patient needs”underlines the EFS in its message on social networks, specifying: “Winter viruses, socio-economic context, weather conditions or even resumption of Covid: many factors explain the drop in attendance at blood drives in recent weeks.” “There are 1,500 blood donations missing every day, we need a massive mobilization”has added the EFS, calling on everyone to give blood as soon as possible.
The situation had already been critical for several weeks. On December 8, 2022, the EFS was alarmed at the level of insufficient blood stocks to survive the winter. According to their estimates at the time, “less than 85,000 blood bags” were available. With “less than 80,000” pockets available so far, the situation has gotten worse.
Blood donation: do a good deed for the Christmas holidays
At the beginning of December, the EFS had insisted on the fact that “the collection will not stop[it] not during holidays”emphasizing that daily mobilization was necessary because of the limited shelf life of blood products. “Two years of permanent tensions linked to the impacts generated by Covid-19 (cancellations of collections in companies and universities, lower mobilization of donors, difficulties in recruiting medical personnel) have considerably affected blood collection”recalled the organization at the beginning of the year.
If you want to donate your blood to end the year with a good deed, you can book a slot in a few clicks on the EFS website: www.dondusang.net. The sample is taken by a nurse and all the equipment is disposable: no risk of contamination and infection. The sample takes about 10 minutes (the appointment therefore generally takes no more than an hour) and would save 3 lives according to the EFS. It is possible to donate blood every 8 weeks.
