Blood reserves are at their lowest. There are fewer than 1000 pouches left, explains the Belgian Red Cross. This is far too few: at least 3,000 are needed. A pressing appeal is being launched to donors, old and new.
All bags of blood collected in the region are processed at the Red Cross premises in Suarlée, near Namur. There should be 5 days of stock. There isn’t even enough to last two days….
After the appeal launched by the Red Cross at the end of last week, the collection centers are waiting for blood donations,
“Current stocks are barely enough to cover urgent short-term needs,” explains Soraya TOURQUIN, the head of the sampling site at the Citadelle Hospital in Liège. This can have consequences such as
delay in certain operations or in certain treatments”.
The Red Cross contacted people who had already donated blood, but it also appealed to new donors, who must meet certain conditions…
The first people affected by the Red Cross appeal began to go to the sampling centers. The bags thus collected will be able to be processed on site to meet certain specific medical needs.
People wishing to donate blood are invited to go to the website www.DonneurDeSang.be. There they will find the collection site closest to their home, and a test which will tell them if they are in the conditions to donate.
In Belgium, it is estimated that 500,000 blood bags are needed per year to meet the need. There are less than 1000 left in stock. A worrying situation which prompted the Red Cross to launch this appeal!
