Summer blood drive starts in Haapsalu!
The North Estonia Medical Centre’s (NEMC) Blood Centre invites the public to the donor tents in the plaza in front of Haapsalu Castle to make blood donations on 1 June from 12-18 and on 2 June from 11-17.
“We’re very glad that we’re starting the North Estonia Medical Centre donor tent tour in none other than Haapsalu and we invite donors to give blood in our cheerful yellow-coloured tents,” said Dr. Riin Kullaste, the Blood Centre director. She added: “Donor tents always have a pleasant atmosphere inside, featuring prize drawings and entertainment for blood donors and children by the mascot Dona the pelican. Everyone in Lääne County who is in good health and wants to do some good is extremely welcome!” Kullaste noted that demand from hospitals is currently high for O and A negative blood, but other blood types also need to be replenished.
In summer 2014, close to 3,000 donors donated a total 1,300 litres blood at the donor tents, operated by the NEMC’s Blood Centre and its counterparts at Tartu University Hospital and Pärnu Hospital. The friendly donor community gained 590 new first-time donors. On the three days that the Haapsalu donor tents operated, some 195 people gave blood, of whom 20 were donating for the first time. A total of 90 litres of valuable blood was collected.
“In spite of the extreme weather conditions of the last summer – cold weather; even snow in June and tropical heat in August – donors were unfazed and we were happy to see so many visitors to the tents. All of the patients who needed blood got the help they needed,” said Kullaste.
To be an eligible donor, you should be healthy, rested, have recently eaten, weigh at least 50 kg and be between the ages of 18 and 60, and be either an Estonian citizen or have lived in Estonia over a year on the basis of a residence permit. The Blood Centre encourages donors to give blood regularly, three or four times a year. Each donation helps at least three patients. Donor blood is most often needed by cancer patients, women in childbirth and newborns, and patients who underwent serious operations. Anaemia, blood loss, severe injuries; and people with various other illnesses are other conditions where a transfusion may be needed. Around 20,000 patients a year receive blood transfusions at Estonian hospitals.
The donor tents are touring the country for the ninth summer under a motto that points out that donors also make a valuable contribution to contribute to national defence, currently an important issue. The tour, which runs from May to September, makes stops in nine cities and towns: Tallinn, Keila, Rapla, Paide, Haapsalu, Rakvere, Pärnu, Tartu and Viljandi. This year, separate Estonian and Russian-language information pages have been set up at www.doonoritelgid.ee, providing all manner of information related to the donor tents.
The donor tent project is made possible through cooperation with the Rescue Board, the Defence Forces, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, the Police and Border Guard, county and city governments, the Road Administration, the Defence Forces recruitment centre, the National Defence College, the Defence League and Estonian Red Cross. The donor tents are supported by very many Estonian institutions. The tour operator Goadventure will hold a drawing open to blood donors, where the grand prize is a weeklong trip for two to Turkey.
For more information on the summertime donor tents, visit www.doonoritelgid.ee
More information can also be found on the Blood Centre’s website www.verekeskus.ee and the Facebook fan site Doonorid ja Sõbrad.
The NEMC Blood Centre is also on Instagram. Follow us at @verekeskus and post your pictures of blood donations in the donor tents.