Dramatic appeal to all citizens of Serbia; Blood supplies at critical levels

The director of the Institute for Blood Transfusion, Olivera Savić, said that blood reserves decrease during the summer, as they do every year, while patients’ needs remain the same.

Around 300 units of blood are needed every day to ensure uninterrupted supplies for all hospitals and emergency services, and the biggest challenge is not only the number of donors, but also the continuity and regularity of donations.

“Just like every summer, blood reserves decrease — this is something that happens everywhere. We go on holidays, try to escape the heat, and forget that illness can occur in the summer just as it can in winter. There are chronic illnesses and patients who continuously need blood. During the summer, our needs do not decrease, but the number of donors does,” Savić said in an interview with RTS.

According to her, over the past two weeks the greatest shortage has been seen in blood type A and O (zero), as well as all negative blood types.

“Yesterday we collected 350 units, but the day before that we collected only 180. Continuity is the most important thing because blood has an expiration date,” Savić pointed out.