In Germany, blood supplies are becoming scarce. This is problematic, because surgeries that have been postponed due to corona still have to be made up for. In view of the “critical situation”, the Red Cross urgently calls for blood donations.
In Munich, the first planned operations have already had to be postponed. This is reported by the ” Süddeutsche Zeitung “. Andreas Humpe, professor at the LMU Clinic for Anaesthesiology, reports on postponed surgeries. “Urgently” more blood donors are needed, Humpe appealed.
The situation at the city clinics in Munich is also “challenging”, although no operations have had to be postponed here so far.
But across Germany, the supply gap is thin. In view of the lack of supplies, the German Red Cross is urgently calling for blood donations nationwide. “We are in a critical situation at the moment because we have a very high need for blood in clinics,” said the spokesman for the blood donation services of the German Red Cross, Patric Nohe, on the occasion of the blood donation day on June 14th.
Operations that were postponed due to the corona pandemic would have to be made up for. On the other hand, there are vacations, public holidays and a high volume of travel, which leads to a decline in the willingness to donate. Many donors cannot be reached. “So if you’ve never donated blood before, now would be an ideal time to do so,” the spokesman said.
The chairman of the German Society for Transfusion Medicine and Immunohaematology (DGTI), Hubert Schrezenmeier, also confirmed significant bottlenecks in the supply of blood products. Accordingly, the need is currently higher than the donations. In addition to the operations that have to be made up for, the return of many recreational athletes also leads to more accidents and a higher need for blood supplies.
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