Giving Blood - The Facts

JBA · Post by **JBA** » Wed 20 Jul 2016 9:29 am

As a result of my successful appeal for platelets many questions were asked (on the forum, on the phone, in emails, in SMS) about giving blood. I went to the Blood Bank and these are the facts as they gave them:-

There are 3 blood banks who act as 1 in terms of swapping supplies as necessary. They are Lefkosa, Girne & Famagusta. Girne & Famagusta are open for donations between 8am and 3pm Monday to Friday. Lefkosa is open 24/7 and will never refuse a donation.....HOWEVER they greatly prefer you attend between 8am and 10pm as their reduced staffing levels at other hours may mean a donor can have a long wait if the staff are busy.

The minimum age for giving blood is 19. The maximum (for men or women) is 67 if you are a regular donor or 60 for first time donors. Men can give blood again after 3 months, women after 4 months. In addition, people between 68 and 70 can also give blood but only once per year.

Blood can be kept for 1 month and the greatest demand is for type A+. The blood is supplied wherever it is needed including the private hospitals although Near East have their own blood bank.

The biggest question is medications. It is too complicated to address here but you are advised to check before a possibly wasted journey. You can call the Lefkosa Hospital 0392 228 5441 and extensions 1070 or 1071 to reach the blood bank - they can tell you if your medication is acceptable or not. It is best to call between 8am and 2 pm and ask for Ozge (pronounced Ozger) - she speaks excellent English and is very knowledgeable about medications. Many are, more than I would have suspected, so please check and don't assume you are excluded, e.g., all the following are acceptable:-

Thyroid treatments
Blood Pressure treatments (provided blood pressure is stable at time of donation)
Aspirin/Paracetemol
Hormones
even anti-biotics provided the course has been complete for 1 week.

Also Diabetics are acceptable provided their blood sugar is stable at the time of donation - Glucophage is an acceptable medication.

When you arrive you will fill in a form and they then conduct 'typing' (O, A etc.) and blood tests. You then get into a nice comfortable recliner and they insert a needle into your arm and take the blood. The whole process from arrival to departure takes 20 minutes at Lefkosa (they couldn't answer for the other 2 ) - hard to believe but they insist that is the reality.[/color]

The Blood Bank never has enough and all donations will always be welcomed. Please think about doing this - 20 minutes is not much of your time to help others and maybe save a life.

If you do give then please quote "Kibkom Appeal" so they know where is the power!

Cally · Post by **Cally** » Wed 20 Jul 2016 10:37 am

Very informative JBA, I don't know if it is a good thing or not but upper age in UK is higher than 67, I am past that & still giving, long may it last, being Oneg I know the importance.

Whatarotty · Post by **Whatarotty** » Thu 21 Jul 2016 7:38 am

Very good information! I can confirm, donation is every 4 months and you must have eaten.....we were turned away for not having breakfast once and was told to eat and return in 1 hour.....

Hope this helps.......

JBA · Post by **JBA** » Thu 21 Jul 2016 3:34 pm

New facts ascertained today. I will also add these into the original post in green.

Firstly Whatarotty you are not quite correct. Women can give every 4 months but men can give every 3 months.

Also I was incorrect on age. Between 68 and 70 you can still give blood but only once per year.

They don't have an email address. Further I would advise that enquiries about medications be directed to Ozge (pronounced Ozger) at Lefkosa between the hours of 8am to 2pm- she is very knowledgeable about medications and speaks excellent English.

Finally, just as some common examples, all the following medications are acceptable:-

Thyroid treatments
Blood Pressure treatments (provided blood pressure is stable at time of donation)
Aspirin/Paracetemol
Hormones
even anti-biotics provided the course has been complete for 1 week.

Also Diabetics are acceptable provided their blood sugar is stable at the time of donation - Glucophage is an acceptable medication.
.

Whatarotty · Post by **Whatarotty** » Mon 25 Jul 2016 9:32 pm

We gave blood in last 2 weeks and they were very clear it had to be 4 months for both, it WAS 3 months for men but BRS sent notification that it was 4 months for both..maybe they have gone back on that again, or it depends where you go, we went to Girne hospital and my husband was just within the 4 months because the nurse commented......sorry if I was wrong but just going by my own recent experience......great thread, hope you keep up with the updates because this is so important to everyone .....x

JBA · Post by **JBA** » Tue 26 Jul 2016 7:14 am

Possibly it is different at different hospitals. My information came from Lefkosa, I jointly interviewed 3 senior people and they jointly agreed before giving me an answer.

I also sent my text to them for verification before publishing it on Kibkom.