Wednesday 29 August 2018

Giving Blood in France


First a banner goes up on the town hall in Preuilly. It says blood will be collected on Saturday morning. Then the electronic message board shows that you can give blood at the Salle des Fêtes between 9am and 12pm on Saturday 18 August.

Prompted to go after a blog post by TasteFrance I put it in my diary. I needn't have worried though. At 8.30am on the appointed Saturday morning a Red Cross van cruises up and down Preuilly's streets with a tannoy, urging the inhabitants to pop in and give blood.


When I get to the Salle des Fêtes just a few minutes after 9am the blood team are finishing breakfast. Half a dozen donors are already there. I am given a bottle of water and a four page questionnaire to fill out. I haven't got through more than a few questions before an administrator calls me over. She needs to register my details (name, address, etc) on the computer, and her colleague needs to do a prick test to see that my haemoglobin count is high enough. It has to be over 12 I'm told, otherwise I'm probably anaemic. Mine is 14, so that's OK.

I go back to filling out the form. There is a question about whether I had lived in the UK for a year or more between 1980 and 1996. This is to eliminate the risk of those who might have been exposed to Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (otherwise known as Mad Cow Disease, which leads to a terrible human disease called Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease). I was in the UK in 1995, but only for 3 months and we didn't move there until 1997. However, many British people now living in France cannot give blood in France because of this.


There were the usual questions about sexual activity and drug use and lots more questions about where I'd been in the last twelve months, even in transit. Also a question about Hepititis B and Tetanus vaccinations, and one asking if I planned to do anything sporty immediately after giving blood. I said I planned to go swimming if I felt OK. Finally I finished answering all the questions and was called in for an interview with a doctor.

She went through the form with me, clarifying some of the answers and entering it all on the computer. She asked me what I'd eaten for breakfast (muesli with milk and a cup of coffee which got a nod of approval). Swimming afterwards was deemed foolish though. I couldn't remember the date of my tetanus booster, but it was in the last year so we took a near enough is good enough approach with the date. The fact that I had been in China and Australia was not a problem, but I got quizzed about where in Italy I had been. I explained that I had stepped into northern Italy across the border in the Alps for less than an hour three weeks earlier. No matter, it was enough to halt the whole process. I couldn't give blood that day because there is currently a virus in Lombardy and around Venice that they don't want to be passing on. There needs to be at least a month between visiting those parts of Italy and giving blood. The doctor said that she was rejecting a lot of people for that sort of reason because it was the holidays and people were travelling a lot.

Two nurses on the left, two doctors on the right and a donor in the background.

I was invited to partake of a biscuit and some cordial nevertheless, thanked and sent on my way. So I went swimming. I think the blood team come to Preuilly three times a year, so I will keep an eye out for them and be ready next time.

12 comments:

chm said...

I think they'd rather be safe than sorry. Next time, as you said. Unfortunately, I guess I'm too old for that kind of thing.

Colin and Elizabeth said...

Think I got up to 37 donations in the UK. It was interesting as to how things changed over the years. When I started doctors had to insert the needle now its nurses. The rules also changed as you would expect. C

francetaste.wordpress.com said...

FYI, the process gets easier when you're a regular. I have a little card now. And the blood bank calls me when they need blood (and when enough time has lapsed), and I go to the blood bank with an appointment, which means I don't wait at all. Recently they wanted plasma, which takes longer, but no big deal--no discomfort, just an excuse to lie back and listen to podcasts. I have switched to doing it at the end of the day because I am pretty tired afterwards (no longer a spring chicken), but the next day I'm more energetic than ever.

melinda said...

i gave a couple or 3 times but got way too dizzy to keep it up...now i think I'm too old...i believe there is an age limit

sillygirl said...

Your madcap life did you in! Flitting to Italy that way!

Autolycus said...

I cannot resist remembering the classic Tony Hancock episode (which might be something to listen to while donating?):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_NWTIbEEzQ

Susan said...

Yes. It's actually quite difficult to meet all the criteria.

Susan said...

Doctors taking blood -- never a good idea. They are always crap at it. Nurses are much better because they get much more practice.

Susan said...

Good to know, thanks. I think my nearest blood bank is in Tours though, so an hour away. Not ideal.

Susan said...

Yes, although they must swear they haven't had sex in the previous 12 months. This requirement to be not sexually active is currently being challenged in the ECHR.

Susan said...

The age limit is 70 in France.

Susan said...

Yes, I've seen it before.

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