Last week, there was a temporary shortfall of blood in Debrecen. The hospitals had to introduce waiting lists for operations. The resources of blood in our region are sufficient for 1 or 2days, but 3-4 days would be the optimal.
During a heart surgery, 4-8 units of blood are necessary in average, but in extreme cases even 10-12 units can be used. This means some liters of blood. Some orthopaedic, vascular and cardiological operations need even more blood. If there are many operations, the hospitals only perform the most serious and urgent ones. In the summer, the number of blood donors dramatically drops because of holidays. According to the information of the blood bank of Debrecen, they have about 800 units of blood for transfusions but 1400 units would be necessary for safe operations. They are organizing special blood-giving campaigns.
