BLOOD donors in Catalunya will receive a text message to tell them when their contribution has been used in a bid to encourage more to do so, according to the regional Blood and Tissue Bank.
A region-wide donor session is due to take place on January 19 and organisers are aiming for a new high of 8,000 participants on the day, each of whom typically give 660ml, or a pint.
Barcelona's mayoress Ada Colau reveals that a thousand donations a day are needed just to treat the usual numbers of patients in Catalunya's hospitals, meaning even if the 8,000 is reached, stocks will only last for just over a week.
At certain times of the year, supplies reduce more drastically than others – summer, with the tourist influx, and other holiday seasons including Christmas and Easter, especially at peak traffic times when accident rates are higher.
This festive season has seen blood stocks fall by 25%.
And even though it is stored in optimum conditions, donated blood does not last long – and at the moment, donations are lower than ever, since the annual influenza epidemic and other seasonal health problems, such as the common cold, mean those affected cannot give blood.
Also, stocks were depleted in August in Catalunya following the near-simultaneous terrorist attacks on Las Ramblas in Barcelona and in Cambrils (Tarragona province), as they were needed to treat the swathes of injured tourists and residents.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com