Donate blood! Donate the power of Slavia
Except for the traditional star on the heart, the red colour has completely left the Slavic jerseys used during home matches. Why? By missing the colour of blood, the players drew attention to the problem of the lack of donated blood in Czech hospitals and new regular donors. All this with the idea:
Donate blood! Donate the power of Slavia! Save lives!
Blood cannot be manufactured, it cannot be replaced. Without transfusion, today´s medicine is impossible! Slavia, through the campaign "Donate Strength", draws attention to the need for new regular blood donors. Five minutes at a blood donation can save up to three lives.
The importance of blood, the importance of donation, is enormous.
"A long-term problem in the Czech Republic is that the number of blood donors is not such that the need for transfusion products can be met without problems. It´s not that there is not enough blood for someone who needs blood. But there are many situations where donors are less available and blood is difficult to find," explains doc. RNDr. Marek Jukl, Ph.D., President of the Czech Red Cross.
"It is essential that people realize that blood is needed and without it, contemporary medicine cannot exist. Collected blood or preparations made from it are most commonly used in connection with injuries, surgical procedures and, more recently, increasingly for the treatment of the long-term sick. For example, in anti-cancer treatment," says MUDr. Turek Petr, CSc., Chairman of the Transfusion Department, Thomayer University Hospital.
"If a crisis situation were to occur - a mass disaster, a natural catastrophe - in a situation of insufficient numbers of blood donors in the population, and therefore a low number of donations, this would mean insufficient stocks of transfusion products without reserves, which are intended specifically for dealing with emergency situations. When an emergency situation arises and the need to transfuse patients increases, potential blood donors usually realise that they need to go and donate. Unfortunately, however, they are too late. This is because the blood must first be drawn, then processed, and all the prescribed laboratory tests must be performed (e.g., blood type and signs of clinically significant, monitored infections must be tested). We must not forget the transport of transfusion products to the healthcare facility that handles the emergency. This is neither a quick nor a simple process. In order to be able to maintain sufficient stocks of transfusion products, including reserves for emergency situations, it is essential that blood donors donate blood and blood components regularly, at appropriate intervals and, last but not least, in sufficient numbers´´ appeals Daniela Dušková, M.D., Ph.D., Head of the VFN Faculty Transfusion Department.
"Blood donors who donate blood or blood components in blood transfusion service facilities directly linked to hospital medical facilities respect the basic principles of blood donation, i.e. that blood donation should be voluntary and non-contributory, i.e. without any financial contribution associated with the donation of blood or blood components. Transfusion products produced from donations made in hospital transfusion units are intended directly for patients in the Czech Republic. In contrast, blood donors who donate plasma in commercial plasma centres receive a financial contribution and often other in-kind rewards and benefits for donating plasma. These rewards and other bonuses are linked to the donation itself and also to the number of donations. It should be remembered that plasma collected in commercial plasma centres is not primarily intended for therapeutic administration to patients in the Czech Republic, but is intended for further processing in the pharmaceutical industry. Therefore, it is definitely not a direct help to our patients in the Czech Republic," explains the key difference MUDr. Daniela Dušková Ph.D.
Become a donor
Anyone aged 18 and over can donate blood, and for the first donation between 18 and 60 years of age, as long as they meet the health conditions listed on the websites of the blood transfusion departments, which are in almost every district town.
White is honor, red is blood
So says the founding statutes of SK Slavia Prague. Together we form a strong and unique community that honours the red and white colour. That has the strength and willingness to help.
Where´s the red?
On 27 October, the opening day of the Donate the Power of Slavia event, the A-team wore a special set of white jerseys in a home league match against Dukla to draw attention to the issue of blood shortages and the lack of new regular donors.
Apart from the traditional star on the heart, the red colour has completely left the red and white jerseys used during home matches. This was not an isolated event...
Slavia staff and the men´s and women´s A-teams donated blood twice, once at the VFN, once at the ÚVN. In September, the third joint donation took place directly at the Fortuna Arena. Slavia has been cooperating with the Children´s Transplant Unit of the University Hospital in Motol for 20 years and for the third year has been helping to find bone marrow donors.
"Slavia is committed to donating blood on a regular basis, finding new donors from among the club´s supporters and also supporting people who already donate blood," says Michaela Schejbalová, CSR manager.
