{"id":3095,"date":"2015-04-01T13:11:03","date_gmt":"2015-04-01T10:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/verekeskus.ee\/?page_id=3095"},"modified":"2025-05-26T15:46:01","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T12:46:01","slug":"faq","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/verekeskus.ee\/en\/donate-blood\/faq\/","title":{"rendered":"FAQ"},"content":{"rendered":"

Frequently asked questions<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Why should I<\/span><\/strong> donate blood, aren\u2019t there plenty of donors?<\/strong>
\nConsidering the number of people who meet the age requirements for donating blood, Estonia is about average in Europe for this indicator. Looking at the percentage of the population who give blood, though, Estonia\u2019s 2.8% (2014) is far behind other countries. Each year, the number of donors has grown, but in order to prevent a crisis in future, we will need new donors as well as regular donors \u2013 people who are willing to help and for whom giving blood a few times a year is part of their lifestyle.
\nBeing a blood donor is a form of charity that doesn\u2019t take much time or effort and which is within the abilities of many of us. Also, don\u2019t forget that anyone of us could also find ourselves needing blood some day.<\/p>\n

Why are donors in Estonia not paid?<\/strong>
\nUnpaid, voluntary donors ensure the maximum level of safety of donor blood, and this is also in line with a World Health Organization recommendation. For instance, Lithuania and Germany have both paid and unpaid donorship and statistics show that the paid donors have up to eight times more blood-borne diseases in their blood supply than in blood of unpaid donors. This suggests that a sincere altruistic desire to help others and honesty in filling out the form and at the mini-physical are a better guarantee of the maximum level of blood transfusions, which is in the interests of us all as potential patients.<\/p>\n

How many blood transfusions are needed per year? And how much blood is that?<\/strong>
\nEvery donated dose of blood helps save someone\u2019s life. In 2014, over 36,000 donors visited Estonian blood centres, giving a total of about 60,500 blood doses. Of these, 85,000 blood components were prepared for hospitals, and 20,000 patients benefited. Each dose of blood has priceless value, representing the donor and his or her desire to help those in need.<\/p>\n

When does the Blood Centre send out personal invitations to give blood?<\/strong>
\nThe Blood Centre sends out invitations to donors every day in the form of invitation cards, e-mails and text messages, according to that day\u2019s needs. The goal of the invitations is to spread the word about blood drives and which blood types are needed. The Blood Centre also sends out urgent calls should the need for blood unexpectedly increase.<\/p>\n

We urge donors to remember that hospitals need donor blood each and every day \u2013 so it\u2019s important not to be passive and rely only on the invites. We encourage donors to regularly come in of their own volition to give blood, keeping track of the blood supplies for each type on our website.<\/p>\n

What does the blood-meter on the Blood Centre\u2019s website indicate?<\/strong>
\nThe blood-meter, represented by red droplets in the header of our website, shows current supply levels, updated daily, and is a helpful resource for donors and prospective donors.
\nA certain optimum blood supply is needed to meet hospitals\u2019 daily blood needs.<\/p>\n

The red level within each blood droplet shows the supply of blood of that type.<\/p>\n