Česky
According to older surveys, almost a third of Czech women and men have donated blood at some point in their lives, 15 percent repeatedly. Most people perceive donating as a good deed, but up to 70 percent are prevented from donating by fear of pain, needles or the health consequences of donating. More than 400 000 blood donations are made in the Czech Republic each year, 90 percent of which are non-contributory. According to various recommendations, up to 5 per cent of the Czech population should give blood to cover the total need for blood. The Hořovice blood transfusion station, with 11 thousand donors per year, significantly exceeds the population of its home district of Beroun (approximately 86 thousand). As the largest collection centre in the Central Bohemian Region, it is able to regularly supply a number of Prague hospitals with the most precious fluid.
"The time of holidays and vacations did not affect the operation of the transfusion department. On the contrary," says Jana Šrámková, head nurse of the Hořovice transfusion station. "During the summer months, more than 250 more free blood donations were taken than in the previous year. As every year, the department was painted, cleaned and the waiting room for blood donors was equipped with new equipment. To ensure the safe transport of blood to the donor, which is carried out from Monday to Friday, a new vehicle was purchased for this purpose, which meets all the prescribed requirements. In the month of September, the blood collection started again in full swing," he explains.
The Hořovice "transfúzka" is very grateful to several hundred jubilee donors who come to donate the most important and irreplaceable fluid several times a year. Ms Šrámková cites as an example MUDr. Maria Zímová, a dentist in Hostomice, who came on 2 September for the 80th time. "I started donating blood during the holidays in 1989, when I was working at the local hospital and the staff decided to donate blood together," says the doctor, who points out that blood donation often becomes a family tradition. "My father was a donor. So I wanted to follow him and I have stuck with it," says the doctor, who also sees donating as proof that a person is really healthy.
Emilie Kůsová from Beroun, who also came to donate blood for the 80th time on 8 September, has been among the jubilee donors of the Hořovice "transfusion" for a long time. Mrs. Kůsová considers donating blood to be a matter of course, as she has been a long-time collaborator of the Czech Red Cross and as a social worker at the Beroun Municipal Office for many years she presented Dr. Janský's plaques to other blood donors.
"Today we can say that we have more than one third of women in the blood donor register. There are even days when almost half of the women come to donate blood," says Mrs Šrámková with a certain amount of pride. She also adds that she is understandably pleased with the interest in donating blood from students and various associations and work collectives. Among them, she mentions, for example, students from the Beroun Gymnasium and the Beroun Business Academy, and now also students from the Václav Hraběte Gymnasium in Hořovice. Among the working collectives, he mentions police officers from Zbiroh and Příbram. "In the next two weeks, the Billy Beroun collective will come to donate blood, while the Hořovice mothers have a "donate blood" event announced for Wednesday 8 October," concludes Mrs Šrámková.
Photo:
1. MUDr. Marie Zímová has been donating blood several times a year since 1989.
2. Mrs. Emilie Kůsová has been a long-time associate of the Czech Red Cross and as a social worker she has presented Dr. Janský's plaques to blood donors for many years.
3. Hořovice "transfúzka" has purchased a new vehicle which ensures safe transportation of blood to the processor on a daily basis.
