The National Blood Bank had already received more than 8,000 requests to schedule appointments for donations, after a call was made last week, in conjunction with the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) due to the risk of shortages of blood and plasma, available for the health institutions and the existence of a constant increase in Covid-19 infections.
However, the reservations of donation appointments are in charge of two officials, so the Blood Bank director asked for patience to those who made the process and call them again if they do not receive a timely response; since donations must be maintained over time. At the moment the Blood Bank has the capacity to schedule about 100 appointments a day, 7 days a week.
The shortage risks, according to the Director, is due to the national situation with the New Coronavirus. Since before the COVID-19 crisis, the Blood bank team carried outreach programs to go seek donors in-company and by institutional campaigns.The doctor explained that before the Pandemic, the Bank received about 110 units of blood a day, of which about 80 came from these outreach procedures and the rest from donors who attended the entity’s headquarters.
But in the past weeks, the institution registered less than 40 units of blood, which compromises the deliveries made to the country’s medical centers. That is why he asked those who signed up for the donation process in the last week, to insist, in case they do not receive a response.
The doctor stressed that blood has a useful life of about 35 days and cannot be created in laboratories, which is why they require more of a process of constant donation by citizens rather than of a reliance on accumulation. The units that are collected in a single day are processed (according to their components) and sent to hospitals and clinics the following morning, to be used in the care of accidents, surgeries, transfusions and other procedures.
How to donate?
The list of requirements to donate blood is as follows:
- Identity card.
- Between 18 and 65 years old.
- Weigh more than 52 Kg and measure more than 1.50 meters.
- Having taken a light breakfast.
- Be healthy and feel good that day.
- Not have had tattoos done in the last year.
- Having a single sexual partner in the past six months.
The National Blood Bank is located on the south side of the Zapote Catholic Church and is open Monday through Sunday from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. To schedule an appointment: contact 2280-9952 ext. 113 or WhatsApp: 8821-6514.
