On Slovenian Blood Donor Day: “Your blood saved my life, please donate blood too!”
On 4 June, the Slovenian Blood Donor Day, an inspiring story was presented at a press event, a story bordering on the impossible, where minutes count, a true story with a happy ending. It highlights the importance of blood donation for the uninterrupted supply of blood and the interconnected functioning of healthcare. On behalf of patients and the healthcare system, they thank all blood donors who regularly donate blood in Slovenia, which saves many lives and enables the treatment of patients. Blood Donor Day is celebrated within the framework of the blood donation initiative “Donate Energy for Life”, where the Blood Transfusion Centre of Slovenia, the Slovenian Red Cross and Petrol are joining forces for the 12th year.
An average of 350 blood donors are needed every working day to meet the daily blood needs of patients and the healthcare system. For this reason, regular public awareness-raising about the significance of blood donors and blood donation is of the utmost importance. Unfortunately, we often only realise this when we or a loved one needs blood. This is what 22-year-old Siniša Milunović from Kočevje experienced in his almost unbelievable story with a happy ending, when he survived a fall from eight metres while working at a height in February this year. Patient treatment and surgery usually require five to ten units of blood, but his rescue and treatment required almost 200 units of blood or nearly 100 litres, which required 200 blood donors to donate blood. He is still alive thanks to them, and on this Blood Donor Day, he and his family would like to express their sincere gratitude: “Thank you to all of you who participated in my rescue, thank you to all the blood donors for keeping me alive and well today. Please donate blood, it saved my life.” Thanks to the professionalism and responsiveness of all the healthcare professionals involved, he is now living a normal life despite his serious injury.
Primož Velikonja, Head of the Ambulance Service at the Kočevje Community Health Centre, who was the first on the scene on that fateful day, is well aware of the importance of the smooth functioning of the entire healthcare system and the excellent coordination of individual activities in the field: “For us, every minute counts. When the phone rang on 14 February this year, the minutes of the “golden hour” started ticking... This means that an injured person has to be cared for and handed over to the operating theatre in less than an hour. In the field, there is no blood for transfusion, which is usually needed for such an injured person.”
The decision of the rescue team to call a helicopter for immediate transport to the University Medical Centre Ljubljana was also crucial. “It is important that we respond quickly, that the most urgent care is provided on the spot and that we have the possibility of helicopter transport across Slovenia with a qualified team to accompany the patient and hand him over for further treatment,” said Primož Trunk, a specialist doctor with the helicopter emergency medical services.
In serious bodily injuries and major accidents, a mass transfusion protocol is initiated after assessing the injured person’s condition and the need for blood, explains anaesthesiologist Martina Gubina: “In such cases, we need a large amount of blood in a very short time, i.e. within a few minutes, in order to ensure oxygen delivery to the brain so that the patient can have a good quality of life later on.” The patient was treated by a team of surgeons, some of whom also came to help in their free time due to the complexity of the procedure, who were part of a larger multidisciplinary team of intensivists, interventional radiologists, anaesthesiologists, radiologists, nurses and physiotherapists, who each contributed their share in their own area of expertise during the treatment phase. “Siniša was treated for a severe liver injury, which is associated with a 60 to 70% probability of death, mainly on account of severe bleeding. The successful patient treatment is the result of the excellence and expertise of our institution and a testament to the quality of our work. Of course, it must be emphasised that our efforts would be for naught without loyal blood donors who donate blood and thus make life possible for their fellow human beings,” explained surgeon Blaž Trotovšek from the University Medical Centre Ljubljana.
“Our transfusion service ensures safe, high-quality and adequate blood for everyone who needs it, as well as the safety of blood donors and recipients,” explains transfusion medicine specialist Polonca Mali from the Blood Transfusion Centre of Slovenia: “With the COVID-19 pandemic subsiding in Slovenia, the need for blood will increase as the healthcare system returns to normal operations with all the treatment programmes requiring blood – various procedures and surgeries, treatment of haematological and oncological patients, transplant programmes, as well as care for the injured.”
The treatment of such injuries would not have been possible without the blood donated by blood donors in the blood donation campaigns organised by the Slovenian Red Cross and its regional associations every working day across Slovenia. Boštjan Novak, expert associate for blood donation at the Slovenian Red Cross: “It is vitally important that people donate blood to ensure the smooth functioning of the healthcare system in Slovenia, and that young, new blood donors keep joining the ranks of blood donors, because the future of our healthcare depends on it. COVID-19 mitigation measures have restricted the organisation of blood donation campaigns for young blood donors, so this year’s campaign is focused on them.”
Donating blood is a noble and humanitarian act. Helping each other is the highest value, which has a long tradition in Slovenia and we are proud that it is being passed on from generation to generation. By including young, future blood donors in the family of kind-hearted people, we nurture and protect it. This would not be possible without the support of companies for raising awareness about the importance of blood donation. “Petrol is proud to support the Donate Energy for Life blood donation initiative for the 12th year,” said Nada Drobne Popović, President of the Management Board of Petrol: “We also support the blood donors in our ranks, as Petrol employees throughout Slovenia will be donating blood next week.”
We thank the organisers, volunteers, blood donation supporters, medical and professional staff for saving so many lives. We would also like to thank all the media who have supported the campaign over the years by raising awareness. Together, we were able to attract more than 100,000 new blood donors over the last 11 years (2011–2022).
