Berlin -Mitte: Blood donations in Alexa save life - insights from the perspective of a Berlin citizen

The German Red Cross (DRK) has been running a blood donation center for two years in the Alexa Shopping Center in Berlin-Mitte. Everyone can become a hero by donating blood. The employees of the center disguised themselves to Halloween, which the B.Z. reporter liked. The blood donation begins with the inclusion in the file and a questionnaire. Then the donor's hemoglobin value, which measures the red blood pigment. If there is enough hemoglobin, the body can compensate for blood loss by donating. Cancer patients, accident victims and organ transplanted are dependent on blood donation, with a fifth of the donations going into oncology. Doctor Petra Helmes, who has been working at the DRK for 25 years, encourages new donors by shared her own story. Men are allowed to donate blood four times a year and women. About three percent of Germans regularly donate, while 33 percent could. 80 percent of people are dependent on blood donation at least once in their lives. After the donation, the blood is brought to Dresden, where it is divided into red blood cells, blood plasma and platelets. It returns to Berlin 24 hours later. In an Institute for Transfusion Medicine in Lichterfelde, the components are stored to be called up by clinics and save further life. At the end of the donation, the donors get a little snack and the feeling of having done good.

according to a report by www.bz-berlin.de