Important information
Proposed by
Target audience
Price
Where is it?
Donate blood
What is it?
Giving blood is a voluntary and benevolent action which allows the treatment of several thousand men and women in France. Needs are daily and increase every year. There is no product capable of replacing human blood. Blood donation is therefore essential to treat certain diseases. Donating blood is therefore useful to help emergency relief, and people having surgical operations, blood diseases, cancers, etc.
It is the French Blood Establishment (EFS) which organizes collections throughout France. Collection locations can be fixed (hospitals, donation centers) or mobile (EFS teams travel to towns, businesses, etc.).
How to do it?
To find out if you can donate blood, it is necessary to answer a questionnaire.
The criteria relate to age, weight, diseases, lifestyle, etc.
Click here to answer the online questionnaire.
You can be excluded from donating blood if there are medical contraindications, but you cannot be excluded because of your sexual orientation.
Here are some examples of medical contraindications:
- Taking antibiotics (ongoing or stopped for less than 14 days).
- Infection or fever over 38°C less than 2 weeks old.
- Vaccine less than 4 weeks old.
- Active contagious infections (syphilis, HIV infection, etc.)
(...)
If you meet the criteria, a map appears. You can then choose your collection location based on your postcode.
There are a hundred of them in total in France.
Once the location has been chosen, you can make an appointment on one of the available slots: click on “make an appointment”, then on “next”.
To validate the appointment, you must fill in your information with your:
- name
- first name
- phone number
- date of birth
- city where you live
Then click on “confirm your appointment”.
- Welcome and registration
At the time of the appointment, the EFS team welcomes you, checks your identity, registers your file and gives you a questionnaire to complete.
Good to know: It is important to answer questions honestly.
- Interview before donation
A doctor conducts this confidential interview. He looks at the questionnaire you have filled out and asks you questions to check that you can donate blood.
- Sample
Your blood is collected using sterile, single-use equipment. For new donors, a measurement of the hemoglobin level is carried out in order to identify a possible "anaemia" (a lack of iron).
- Pause
After your donation, small things to eat are offered to you to regain energy (biscuits, orange juice, etc.). This friendly moment is an opportunity to ensure your good recovery after the donation and to make you want to come back.
What happens next?
It is allowed to donate blood for a man no more than 6 times a year, and for a woman no more than 4 times.
It is also possible to donate plasma or donate platelets.
Did you find this sheet useful?
Thank the contributors who wrote and translated it for you!
Related topics
12 contributors mobilized