The Process of Transfusing Donor's Blood to Recipient
In a steady stream, a bold, crimson fluid pours into a plastic bag. With 10 to 15 minutes elapsed, it swells to 500 milliliters - a life-saving load of donated blood. But this is merely the commencement of a journey meant to save lives or aid the sick.
Giving Hope to Multiple Recipients
A technique championed by Silke Hufen of the DRK Blood Donation Service Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - the largest blood supplier in Germany - suggests that a single donation can benefit up to three individuals. It starts at blood donation centers in Neubrandenburg, Schwerin, and Rostock, and at numerous mobile appointments. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, alongside Lower Saxony, Bremen, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia, falls within the catchment area of the DRK Blood Donation Service NSTOB, which operates 11 facilities across these states – three of them in MV. Daily, these donations are transported from here to Dessau or Springe, Lower Saxony.
Unwavering Vigilance
Upon arrival, these donations are first put through rigorous testing for infection parameters, crucial for safeguarding recipients from perils like HIV or hepatitis. If the results show irregularities, the entire donation must be destroyed. To protect the donor, they are also informed, enabling them to seek appropriate medical assistance.
From each donation, experts extract three vital components: blood plasma, used to increase a patient's blood volume after severe blood loss, and crucial for developing life-saving medications; red blood cells (erythrocytes), primarily used in blood transfusions; and thrombocyte concentrate, integral to blood clotting and instrumental in cancer therapy.
Prioritizing Patient Care
Cancer patients whose bodies struggle to form stem cells due to radiation and chemotherapy make up the largest pool of beneficiaries of donor blood. Heart and circulatory diseases with necessary surgeries follow, while blood requirements in accidents come last. Hospitals, oncology practices, and dialysis centers are the primary consumers of these life-saving donations.
In Rostock, NSTOB centralizes its distribution and fleet. Every workday, clinics and practices across the country receive their supply from this hub, while the laboratory and fleet stand ready 24/7 for emergencies.
Seasonal Challenges
Donations from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, amounting to around 50,000 full blood donations annually, primarily serve the local community. During holidays and public holidays, it becomes increasingly difficult to cater to the continuous demand, particularly for the short-lived thrombocyte concentrates crucial for cancer patients, which have a lifespan of just four days. In comparison, blood transfusions last 49 days but require a minimum donation interval of eight weeks for men and twelve weeks for women to ensure safety.
Cultivating New Donors
The German Red Cross (DRK) actively seeks cooperation with vocational schools, high schools, and universities of applied sciences and research in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to encourage first-time donors. On World Blood Donor Day on June 14, blood drives are organized at several outdoor events.
Apart from NSTOB, Haema - a blood bank based in Leipzig - also serves Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, with two locations in Rostock and Schwerin. Blood donations are collected and processed at the university sites in Rostock and Greifswald. In 2021, the University Medicine Greifswald recorded over 13,300 blood donations and over 3,700 plasma donations. The Institute for Transfusion Medicine undertakes all necessary laboratory tests and processing steps, offering services that extend beyond blood donations. In most cases, the University Medicine can cater to its own needs and support several regional institutions. However, shortages can occur even for a single blood type, in which case they lean on other blood banks. Collaborative efforts, thus, remain essential to ensure quality care for all patients.
Science of Saving Lives
The extracted blood plasma, a valuable component from each donation, is used in developing life-saving medications, aligning it with the realm of medical-conditions and health-and-wellness.
Red blood cells, primary recipients in blood transfusions, play a pivotal role in health-and-wellness, demonstrating the connection between science and maintaining a state of good health.
