“Blood is the most important emergency medication and for many people in the hospitals in vital survival,” said Opriesnig. As part of the blood donation campaign on Monday morning in the Federal Criminal Police Office, a total of more than 100 police officers and police officers and criminal officers donated their blood.
Blood still cannot be made artificially and can only be kept for 42 days. In Austria, 1,000 blood -driven a day are needed: but the summer months in particular are a difficult phase for the blood supply. Many donors are on vacation, but even after the holiday season, many people have to pause for some time due to travel to risk areas – for example, where there are malaria before they are allowed to donate blood again. In addition, blood donation campaigns are less visited in hot weather. For operations, acute emergencies and the care of chronically ill people, more than 5,000 blood donations are absolutely required.
According to the Red Cross, the situation this year is particularly critical: Because a new blood donation regulation and amended admission criteria that have applied since June, many regular donors are no longer allowed to leave blood as often.
In 2024, a total of 211,559 Austrians donated blood – that is only 3.35 percent of the population of a donation – around 33,000 of them were initial donors. At 31 percent, the 51- to 65-year-olds were the age group, which is the most donations, just followed by people between the ages of 36 and 50.
Basically, all healthy people between the ages of 18 and 70 – first donors can register until the 60th birthday – donate blood. In 2024, however, only 16 percent of the blood donations received are likely to come from the 18- to 25-year-olds. “It is all the more important to motivate young people to donate blood in particular – now every single donation counts,” said the Red Cross.
Each hospital in Austria has a blood depot to ensure routine supplies. In an emergency, blood cannon can also be delivered to hospitals within 30 minutes. Men are allowed to donate blood up to four times a year, women up to three times a year. As a prerequisite, all women and men must be healthy and weigh at least 50 kilograms. The minimum distance between two thoroughbred donations must be eight weeks.
In the event of diseases, allergies, medication income, stays abroad or during pregnancy, donation suitability can be restricted. However, many of these reasons for provision are limited in time: If you want to donate blood, but are uncertain about your own donation suitability, you can therefore contact the free service number of the Austrian Red Cross – on 0800 190 190. At blood.at, an appointment can then be booked at a blood donation center or a mobile blood donation. On-site blood donors are subjected to a health check again before the 465 milliliter blood acceptance is carried out.
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