The situation is not dramatic at the moment - but to prevent it from happening, more people would have to donate blood, the DRK appealed.
Cologne (dpa / lnw) - In North Rhine-Westphalia there are no blood supplies. The main reason for this is the relaxation of the corona virus, said Stephan David Küpper, spokesman for the blood donation service of the German Red Cross West (DRK). "It always gets bad for blood donation when people start to be very mobile," he told the German Press Agency. "Last October we would have liked to have welcomed almost 64,000 people to donate blood - 57,700 donors turned up."
Already in the spring there were bottlenecks in the supply. Now less has been donated than needed. "We are not yet in a dramatic emergency like in May/June 2022 - but we have to take countermeasures now so that we can avoid this situation at best," said Küpper.
Above all, there is a lack of regular donors. "We actually have a demographic problem," he said. "We are slowly losing the baby boomer generation as regular donors." You can still donate up to the age of 76. According to the DRK, it covers 75 percent of the blood requirements of hospitals in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The half liter of "whole blood" that is taken during the blood donation is transported and processed directly, explained Küpper. The blood platelets, which are important for cancer therapies, can only be kept for four to five days. "This short shelf life also means that we always have to take a close look at the holidays to supply the hospitals." The red blood cells and blood plasma, on the other hand, lasted longer and could therefore be stored better.
