On Donor Day, the surgeon spoke about the main problem of front-line hospitals

Need fresh blood

June 14 is World Blood Donor Day. Blood is needed not only in civilian hospitals, but also in front-line hospitals, where wounded soldiers are brought straight from the trenches.

A practicing surgeon with many years of experience told MK about why it is important to organize active work to collect donated blood for its subsequent transportation to the SVO zone. Sometimes even 500 milliliters of donated blood can save the life of a wounded soldier…

The interlocutor of MK, who asked not to give his last name, worked for a long time in one of the most difficult segments of medicine – the treatment of combined trauma at the Sklifosovsky Research Institute, which is often called the “front-line hospital.” Behind Alexander, let’s call our interlocutor hundreds of the most complex operations. Today, he admits, there are problems in providing donated blood to wounded fighters.

– Due to my age, I was not at the forefront in the NVO zone, but my students – the leading doctors of Moscow clinics – constantly go to front-line hospitals on two-week business trips. I had a thorough conversation with them after each such trip, and based on what they said, I responsibly declare that a number of urgent measures must be taken in the matter of providing front-line hospitals and hospitals with donated blood. Now I reproach myself for the fact that I, as a physician, did not take up the issue of delivering fresh blood to front-line medical institutions a year ago.

According to the interlocutor of MK, who refers to the opinion of many of his colleagues, the NWO is very different from previous wars and conflicts, primarily in the level of weapons and the intensity of artillery fire. Indeed, quite often one can hear the phrase from the fighters that now there is a “battle of artillery”, whoever had the guns “woke up” earlier, he won the battle.

– As a result of the massive fire, the fighters are seriously injured. As such, there are few contusions compared to shrapnel wounds and combined polytrauma. They typically account for 90-95% of all injuries. Many can be saved if the hospital has enough blood donations.

According to Alexander, often because of the lack of donor blood in the hospital, his colleagues come to the aid of their comrades. But, having donated even half a liter of blood, the donor at the front is already seriously risking his life.

– If you often donate blood – more than once every 2.5 months, then the body does not have time to recover. God forbid, a donor with an unrecovered body will also be injured. Probably everyone knows that they don’t take patients with low hemoglobin to the operating table. After all, the operation is considered a re-injury – anesthesia, incisions … It’s not a fact that the patient will survive.

In addition, according to the doctor, an organism with a weakened immune system is a breeding ground for the development of additional infections. And this is an unnecessary complication for the wounded soldiers.

According to the surgeon, it is necessary to mobilize civil society to solve these problems.

– The way out is very simple – at the level of the State Duma and the Federation Council, it is necessary to adopt legislative decisions and organize work in the country on donating blood. I am sure that people will go and donate blood even for free. In addition, potential honorary blood donors should be attracted by various benefits. For example, offer free parking in the city. Is the state impoverished? I have organized blood donations at Sklifa more than once, attracted up to 120 donors a day. But this is not an option, we need a system.

According to the interlocutor of MK, it is not difficult to transport donated blood to front-line hospitals.

– There are special containers for this. Blood can be transported in various ways – by plane, by road. There are special means for transportation. The main thing is to get the job done to save lives. I am personally ready to accompany the first batches of donor blood to any of the front-line hospitals.