We are FCC - Nº17

How important is it to donate blood? Blood is one of the things that is not manufactured and you need a lot of it. In a hip operation you can need up to 15 bags. If people did not donate for use in pathologies, surgeries or diseases such as cancer, we would be in a situation where patients would die. It’s something we couldn’t get from anywhere else. Why is it necessary in the current context of the health crisis? After the shutdown in the system due to the beginning of the pande- mic, all surgical interventions have been resumed and a lot of blood is needed. We have an overload of surgeries, although it is always needed for travel, accidents... etc. What safety procedures are being taken on the buses? All the folders that are delivered are disinfected, as well as all the surfa- ces. When the patient gets off the bus at the end of the donation, viru- cidal wipes are used for this purpo- se. For example, the pens we give them are for single use only and no one else touches them. On the other hand, when they arrive, they are as- ked to disinfect their hands, which we also do, and we give them a new mask. In addition, we have buses full of hydroalcoholic sprays. Are they scared when they come? At the beginning yes, especially du- ring the lockdown in March, April and May 2020, although nowadays a little less. However, we have always explained to them all the safety me- asures. However, there was such an avalanche of donors that since they could not be in the street complying with the safety distance, we would take their phone number and they would go up to the house and wait for us to call them. Fear could not finally get the better of them. What happens to the blood of a donor? When we extract the blood, it is refri- gerated and then transferred to the Transfusion Center of the Community of Madrid, located in the neighbor- hood of Valdebernardo. If, after the corresponding analysis, everything is all right, the donor is thanked for his collaboration by mail. If, on the con- trary, any anomaly is found, they are also informed and their blood could not be used for donation at that mo- ment, although there can always be room for false positives. The donor has to come again with the letter after three months to any of our centers, then we take a second sample and it is reanalyzed to verify if the first result was correct. What are the forecasts for the fu- ture? Not bad. Even in the middle of the pandemic, when the population was at home, people did not stop going down to the street to donate blood. The numbers are still very good. On many occasions people over 40 come to donate because of a personal ex- perience, for example, after seeing a relative or acquaintance who needed blood in a critical situation, which fi - nally saved his or her life. There are many new donors as well. People are aware that blood is needed and as long as that happens, we will always be here. Interview with the Spanish Red Cross donation team Dr. Nuria Dinkhauser Arrufat Donation doctor W E L L N E S S 54 W E L L N E S S