Donate blood

Proposed by Comité de la Démarche Accessible Updated on il y a 5 jours

Thanks to blood donation, doctors can treat sick people, help emergency responders, and perform surgical operations.

There is no product that can replace human blood, so doctors need a large amount of blood.

Most healthy people can donate blood, with conditions (see step 1).

Donating blood is a voluntary and benevolent act that can help many people in a short time.

The French Blood Establishment (EFS) organizes blood drives throughout France throughout the year. Collections are either fixed (hospitals, donor centers) or mobile (EFS teams travel to cities, businesses, etc.).

A minimum B2 level of French is required to understand the questions on the website and during the appointment.

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.

To donate blood, you must be in good health and weigh at least 50 kg.

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 during the last 2 weeks.
Vaccine during the last 4 weeks.
Active contagious infections (syphilis, HIV infection, etc.)

(...)

If you are sure that you can donate blood, you must:

Go to this website
Click on the search bar in the middle
Write your city or postal code
Choose the collection location
Click on "MAKE AN APPOINTMENT"
Click on “blood donation”
Choose the date and time
Click on “MAKE AN APPOINTMENT”.

There are more than 100 collection points in France.

To confirm the appointment , you must write your:

email
phone number
name
first name
date of birth
company or school or municipality (city), not obligatory.

Blood donation is anonymous (your identity is hidden), this information is only for the EFS.

You will receive an appointment confirmation email.

Welcome and registration

Before the appointment, it is advisable to eat and drink water, but avoid consuming fats and alcohol.

At the time of your appointment, the EFS team will welcome you, check your identity (passport, residence permit, etc.), register your file, and give you a questionnaire to complete. The questions are the same as the online questionnaire in step 1.

It is important to answer questions honestly.
If you have difficulty understanding or answering, you can ask an EFS professional on site for help.

2. Medical interview before donation

A doctor will see you for a confidential interview: all information remains between you and them.
They look at the questionnaire you completed and ask you questions to check that your situation allows you to give blood.

The purpose of the questionnaire and medical interview is to check that there is no health risk to you or to the person who will receive your blood.

3. Don

A nurse will seat you and explain the steps. It's like a blood test; it takes about 10 minutes. They will draw your blood using sterile, single-use equipment and measure the iron level in your blood.

4. Break and snack

After your donation, the EFS team will offer you snacks to boost your energy (cookies, orange juice, etc.). You will have the opportunity to chat with the professionals and with other people who donated at the same time as you.

It is advisable to wait a while before leaving and to rest after the donation.

Donating blood takes an average of 1 hour in total. In 1 hour, you can save 3 lives.

If you have forgotten to provide important information about your personal situation or if you become ill after donating, do not hesitate to contact the EFS within a few hours and up to 15 days after.

After your donation, do not hesitate to ask for supporting documentation.