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Blood donation Your questions answered

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All blood donations are useful. They allow nations to be self-sufficient in perishable blood products, and contribute to medication that is derived from blood. The selection criteria for donors are very strict and many candidates are temporarily or permanently ruled out in the interest of the safety of donors and recipients. With this in mind, it is vital to ensure there are as many donors as possible.

Donating blood in Luxembourg is, as in most of the other European countries, a gesture that is voluntary, anonymous and unpaid. This forward-looking commit-ment involves making your way to the Blood Transfusion Center or the closest external collection venue, finding the time required to go ahead and donate and possibly overcoming a phobia of injections.

The composition of blood

Blood is a complex liquid, circulating in vessels, com-prising 55% plasma (a liquid containing, among other things, coagulation proteins with a short half-life) and 45% of cells (red blood cells with a lifetime of 120 days transporting oxygen, white blood cells to ensure immuni-ty, platelets with a lifetime of 5 days adhering to vascular breaches and supporting the coagulation process).

What exactly is blood donation?

Blood donation in numbers

Fewer than 1% of donors donate at the maximum allowed rate:

• for the donation of whole blood: 3 donations for women, 4 donations for men

• for apheresis: 12 donations

About 25,000 blood donations are needed in Luxembourg every year.

13,000 donors in Luxembourg (40% female, 60% male) aged from 18 to 65 (average age = 42 years) give their blood:

•91% in the form of whole blood

•9% in apheresis

36 minutes is the time to allow for a donation of whole blood, 60 minutes for a donation of apheresis.

white blood cells

blood vessel

plasma

platelets

red blood cells

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The collection

For 3 years, the Luxembourg blood transfusion require-ments have remained stable, with around one hundred donations required daily (85 of whole blood, 15 of aphe-resis). Blood donors can choose to donate their blood at the Blood Transfusion Center in Luxembourg City or at the collection site of their choice.

Based on the requirements (in terms of product types, blood groups) and the external collection sites, deter-mined one month in advance, a computerized program provides a detailed listing of eligible donors (those who can be requested to donate) for the following days. These people are contacted as they wish by post or email and in urgent cases by phone.

The production

Blood products must be prepared before being distri-buted to hospitals:

An extract of red blood cells (RBC) is produced from a donation of whole blood that is centrifuged and filtered (to eliminate a maximum of white blood cells which tend to trigger allergic reactions in recipients). It can be preserved at between 2° and 6°C for a maximum of 42 days.

An extract of platelets (EP) is produced either during a donation of apheresis or a mixture of platelets produ-ced by 4 donations of filtered whole blood. It can be preserved at between 22° and 24°C for a maximum duration of 5 days.

Fresh frozen plasma (FFP) is produced from a mixture of 380 liters of plasma treated with a detergent solvent (to kill any surrounding viruses). It can be preserved for 4 years at -18°C.

The RBC and EP can be irradiated (destruction of white blood cells for immunodeficient individuals), deplasma-tized (replacement of plasma with another suspended liquid in the case of a serious allergy), or the volume can be reduced (lowering the quantity of plasma to prevent volemic overload).

RBC, EP and FFP can be separated to make pediatric compounds (monodonor products).

Plasma also allows the manufacture of medication derived from blood: albumin, gamma globulins and prothrombin complex.

The distribution

The distribution department of the Blood Transfusion Center ensures the daily supply of completed blood products to national hospitals and clinics and is ready to provide an urgent response to their requests.

From donor to recipient : A chain of solidarity

Blood can be collected from Monday to Friday at the Blood Transfusion Center and periodically at Clervaux, Wiltz, Ettelbrück, Echternach, Grevenmacher, Bettem-bourg, Dudelange, Esch/Alzette and Differdange.

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Conditions to be respected

With the exception of identical twins, each individual is unique and characterized by his/her cellular antigens and plasmatic antibodies. The transfusion represents a temporary transplant which means that certain com-patibility rules must be respected between donors and recipients in order to maximize transfusion efficiency. To avoid immunological conflicts between donors and recipients, whole blood is not transfused. The material actually transfused is either red blood cells, plasma, or platelets.

Quality

Clear legislation sets out the quality and safety standards and the technical requirements that the Blood Transfu-sion Center is obliged to provide in order to ensure the protection of donors and recipients.

In addition to the strict application of the Rules of Good Practice for Fabrication for the preparation of blood pro-ducts, the following precautions are vital:

Pre-donation: extracting blood is only possible when the donors are in sufficiently good health to meet both the clinical selection criteria (updated questioning, weight gain and blood pressure) and biological one (satisfactory blood composition, absence of certain markers of viral, bacterial, parasitical infections).

Post-donation: donors pledge to inform the Blood Transfusion Center of any symptom which may occur after the donation.

Tests allow the detection of the HIV virus, hepatitis A, B and C, syphilis and parvovirus B19 infections. They are carried out at the Blood Transfusion Center on the collected blood and thus ensure maximum safety for the transfusions.

To give blood does not mean either danger or constraints. For me, it has become an ordinary gesture, which I do automatically. By giving up a bit of your time, it is possible to really accom-plish a good deed that can save lives. At the end of the day, it is not so difficult to help those who need it.

Romain Thill, 49 years

Safety

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hematomas after puncture,

spasms (spasmophilia) in the event of excess anticoagulant during an apheresis,

immediate dizziness of vagal origin and/or delayed, due to orthostatic hypotension,

median nerve affected (exceptional (< 0.01%)).

Currently applicable legislation requires that any serious untoward event must be notified to the Ministry of Health (hemovigilance).

The risks encountered during blood donation are few, infrequent and most often harmless:

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The annual rate of renewal of 13,000 blood donors, a figure which is on the increase, is around 7%. To get the 1,000 citizens to make the step forward and donate, thus ensuring self-sufficiency, requires energy, imagina-tion and perseverance on the part of the Blood Donor Associations.

The volunteer members of the associations man an information and recruitment stand each year at the Spring Fair, Autumn Fair, the Student Fair, in Luxembourg City itself during the World Blood Donor Day, as well as holding events and public shows among others. Actions to increase awareness (stands, conferences, etc.) are also organized within companies and associations and academic establishments.

I organize, together with the Luxembourg Red Cross, conferences on blood donation in our school for 10th and 11th grade paramedical students. Since blood is part of the subjects covered in their Curriculum, I consi-der it important to make presentations, given by external speakers, in addition to normal classes. The relevant information is presented outside the normal framework of a lesson with a more practical approach, which helps enhance the awareness of the students. After the presentation, an information stand concerning blood donation allows all the students to familiarize themselves with the subject and, if possible, to register with a view to undergoing donor aptitude tests.

Ms. Viviane Krack, Biology teacher at the Lycée Technique d’Ettelbrück

Awareness of continuing to save lives Company: a partner in improving

awareness of blood donation

More than twenty Luxembourg companies have already joined the total of those committed to the cause, inclu-ding Goodyear, Electrique de l’Our, RBC Dexia, Dimen-sion Data, Delphi, Foyer or even Deloitte to get actively involved in blood donation by:

carrying out internal promotions (stands, conference, etc.)

allowing their personnel to go singly or in groups to the Blood Transfusion Center or an external collection venue

organizing collections within their own premises when the latter allows (i.e. they are situated far from the city of Luxembourg or from an external collection site, they have sufficient installations and confirmed a minimum number of blood donors).

Since 1995, once or twice a year and with the help of the Red Cross, the Foyer Group has organized blood collections within its premises. After the Red Cross has fixed a provisional date, we inform our employees so that they can sign up. On the date in question, we allow the Red Cross access to our premises, and they are left to bring the necessary material. The company also gets involved in a concrete manner by allowing its collabora-tors to donate blood at work. Simply the thought that a mere blood donation can save a life is reason enough for continuing to work with the Blood Transfusion Center of the Red Cross.

M. Benoît Dourte, Director of Human Resources Foyer SA

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Wiltz-Clervaux

Ettelbrück

Luxembourg

Differdange

BettembourgEsch/Alzette

Pétange

Schifflange

AmicaleAssociation

Rodange- Lamadeleine

The Blood Transfusion Center

Since the 1930s, the Red Cross has organized trans-fusions arm-in-arm. In 1950, it set up an actual blood service and accumulated a stockpile of blood which would always be available for the sick and injured.

Over the years, progress in the medical field has meant a very wide variety of blood products and plasmatic deri-vations becoming necessary, manufactured using blood collected from volunteer donors. Today, the blood ser-vice of the Luxembourg Red Cross employs around fifty people to collect blood, prepare it, check it, transform it and finally distribute the blood products and plasmatic derivations to patients.

Actors involved in blood donation

The Collective of Volunteer Blood Donor Associations of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

Since the 1950s, blood donor associations have been founded in almost all parts of the Grand-Duchy with the aim of informing individuals and enhancing awareness of blood donation. The Collective of the Volunteer Blood Donor Associations brings together the different associa-tions and unites the efforts of the community of donors. In addition, it organizes information stands and presenta-tions in schools, companies, trade fairs and other public events.

The 10 Blood Donor Associations of Luxembourg

The Blood Donors Associations are constantly seeking new members. If you would like to get involved beyond dona-tion alone, and actively promote blood donation to the wider public, please contact Ms. Marianne Breuer-Kohnen of the Collective on 691 950 940 or breuerjm@pt.lu.

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More than 13,000 people donate their blood voluntarily to help the sick and injured of the country.

Give blood, save lives!

Contact us on 27 55-4000 or via transfusion@croix-rouge.lu to arrange an initial meeting.

Contact

Centre de Transfusion Sanguine (CTS)(Free Parking available)

42, bd Joseph IIL-1840 LuxembourgB.P. 404 L-2014

Tel. : 27 55-4000Fax : 27 55-4001Email : transfusion@croix-rouge.lu

helpline croix-rouge 2755Internet : www.croix-rouge.lu

Opening times:

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 08:00 - 16:00

Thursday: 08:00 - 18:00

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