Blood reserves remain critically low after an initial appeal by the Western Cape Blood Service (WCBS) to blood donors earlier this month. According to a notice published on their official website on 1 March, blood reserves were critically low at the time. In the notice, the WCBS called on all eligible blood donors to donate blood.
“We always try to have a five day supply [of blood]. We have a one day supply for O+. We are also struggling with O-, A+, and B+ where we only have three days,” said Marike Gevers, manager of public relations at WCBS on 8 March. According to data on the WCBS website obtained on 15 March, reserves of certain blood groups remain critically low.
The Western Cape Blood Service’s (WCBS) criteria for blood donors can be found on their website. WCBS advises blood donors to have a substantial meal three to four hours before donation and to increase fluid intake before and after donation. GRAPHIC: Kara Olivier
The flow of blood donations
February and March are not usually months where there is a critical shortage of blood, but changes in blood donors’ behaviour from the Covid-19 pandemic may have disrupted the usual supply of blood, explained Gevers.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, 28% of blood collected annually by the WCBS came from youth donors between the ages of 16 and 25, according to Gevers. When schools and universities were closed, it was “quite difficult to get people to donate at an alternative venue”, Gevers reported. She added that it is critical to “get back into universities and schools to get learners to come and donate blood”.
A donation clinic was in operation on 8 March at the Dutch Reformed Church in Welgelegen, Stellenbosch. A similar donation clinic will be open at the Neelsie Student Centre on 18 March, according to Jill Nicholas, a representative of the Western Cape Blood Service. PHOTO: William Brederode
“I think it’s quite easy for students to donate blood because most of us are healthy and fit,” said primaria of Stellenbosch University’s (SU) Minerva residence, Kara van Zyl, who helped to organise an inter-residence blood donation competition at SU in 2021.
Haemoglobin hero’s
“With one donation you get to save three people’s lives. [Every day] we need seven hundred people to walk through the door and give half an hour of their time,” said Gevers, in reference to the blood requirements of the Western Cape.
One of these 700 donors was someone who would only identify himself as “Daniel”, and who spoke to MatieMedia at a blood clinic at the Dutch Reformed Church in Welgelegen, Stellenbosch, on 7 March. He explained that he has got a blood group which is currently in need. “I got an SMS saying they needed blood so I came,” he stated.
“It’s the right thing to do,” said Danie Smith (pictured above), a blood donor at the Dutch Reformed Church in Welgelegen, Stellenbosch. “I try and come six times a year [to donate blood].” PHOTO: William Brederode
“A lot of people are scared of the needle […] people think it’s worse than it really is,” said Van Zyl about the donation process.
The refreshments available at the donation clinic are an added incentive, said Van Zyl. “They give us cookies and that’s great,” she stated.