The Blood Collection Centre at the Transfusion Department of St. Anne’s University Hospital in Brno was visited on Monday by South Moravian Governor Jan Grolich. He donated blood of group 0+, which is the second most common in the Czech population. He also expressed support for the ongoing blood drive, “Come and donate before your blood gets cold in your veins”, which the centre established on the occasion of Tuesday’s World Blood Donor Day. Photo credit: St. Anne’s University Hospital
Brno, June 15 (BD) – Tuesday was the first time that Grolich had donated blood at St. Anne’s Hospital (FNUSA), and his second donation overall. “The hardest thing is to come for the first time,” he said. “I am afraid of needles, and that’s why I postponed it for a long time. Now I know what I’m getting into. I close my eyes and in a few minutes it’s done. You just have to be healthy, and it can really help someone.”
Along with the governor, the hospital director Vlastimil Vajdák also donated blood. “Tuesday, 14 June is World Blood Donor Day, so I am glad that my regular visit to the blood transfusion department turned out so symbolically. If we are asking the public to go and donate blood, then I would like to set an example,” said Vajdák.
From Monday until the end of the week, the FNUSA blood collection centre is running an incentive event, during which donors can exchange 450 ml of the precious liquid for a copy of the detective book “The Chilling Depths”, and a 20% discount at Dobrovský Books. “The summer is usually weaker in terms of blood donation,” said Jarmila Celerová, head of the Transfusion Department at FNUSA. “Donors experience delays due to ticks, travel to risky areas, and there are also more accidents, which increase the consumption of blood. Therefore, we want to make the summer more pleasant for our donors, but also motivate them to visit the donation centre.”
In addition to discounts on books, donors will also receive the normal benefits, such as a day off work, a tax discount of CZK 3,000, benefits from hospital partners and health insurance companies, and a CZK 100 voucher for refreshments at Bistro u sv. Anny.
