The voice of anti-COVID blood

         Brothers of blood or not, of blue blood or ordinary people, with fast blood or without blood in veins the military have in their blood the habit of donating a blood product. Every time they do it with cold blood, having the certitude that they save lives, that those who do not have a drop of blood in their cheeks return to normality.

         It is the only case when the gesture of making blood flow has a positive connotation, full of hope and confidence in the continuation of life. Moreover, the Military Blood can become an appreciated title as the precious plant of the Blood of the Brave or as the aromatic tree fruit – the Blood of the Nine-Brothers.

         All these conclusions are based on statistics. According to the National Blood Transfusion Center (NBTC), the National Army is among the most important blood donor institutions, including convalescent plasma – used in coronavirus cases: ” From 1822 – the total number of donors, 112 are soldiers of the National Army, which donated 350 units of convalescent plasma. All of them go to patients with COVID, hospitalized in republican, municipal and district medical institutions at their request. For the plasma products, only the blood group compatibilities are important ”, mentioned Silvia Roșca, vice-director of the center.

         Considering that the 1st Motorized Infantry Brigade from Balti registered the most cases of coronavirus (46, of which 6 women) and only men up to 60 years old, without certain chronic diseases are accepted to give the convalescent plasma, we can say that the most involved in this compartment are the soldiers of this unit: „So far we have 36 donors (76 doses), most are conscripts, who being informed about the possibility to donate plasma, they volunteered several times „, informed Major Vadim Ciuhrii, head of the medical service of the brigade.

         Detailing to the personal level, I am inclined to believe that Dumitru Chitanu is the most generous. He has donated 8 times, starting with July, and he is ready to continue the gesture: “I have been a donor for 2 years, and I donated blood 14 times. Once I went through COVID, I was happy to help other people. Thus, every 2-3 weeks I repeat the deed. „

         His colleague, Daniel Roman, infected at the same time, would like to give blood, but he was called only 4 times: “When I agreed to give plasma, I thought first of all about my grandparents, they are old, and I know this virus is ruthless with the elderly. That’s why I wanted to be useful. Moreover, I like sweets, so I’m happy to be rewarded with these products, and I love to share them with comrades. ”

         The third soldier, Petru Grosu, was treated for 3 weeks in the hospital. After recovery 10 days, he ran to the doctor’s office to donate plasma: “The fact that a dose of plasma saves 3 lives motivated me to get involved in improving the situation. I am also attracted by the reward of the 2 days off – the first day we don’t do any physical exercises, to check if we have no complications and the next day – rest. In fact, to be honest, if I weren’t in the military, I would still donate blood. „

         These young donors with maybe a momentary perception and extrinsically motivated like a package of sweets or a day off, may not even realize in-depth how precious they were for the more than 1000 people who once came out of the ordeal, surely silently thank the anonymous rescuers.

         The gesture is more heroic, as convalescent plasma donations are limited in time – only 60 days, a maximum of 90 antibodies are maintained in the human body, added Silvia Rosca: „This plasma helps in the first days of the manifestation of disease and taking into account that this year the convalescent plasma is in high demand, respectively we don’t warehouse the fluent liquid for 36 months, as long as it can be stored in specialized refrigeration devices.

         It is good to know that the body, after plasma donation, recovers within 48 hours, and the interval between donations must be not less than 2 weeks, said the same source.

         The blood and plasma are collected among the military individually and collectively. In the second case, the event takes place either at the blood collection points or within the military units in suitable rooms. This year, two such campaigns were organized: on September and November-December, specified Colonel Sergiu Cirlan, Head of the Medical-Military Directorate: “On the other hand, due to the pandemic, we could not get involved in maximum capacity for the regular blood donation campaign, as we did for years. ” However, there are sufficient reserves of blood products to ensure the needs of medical institutions, concluded Ms Rosca.

         The fight continues until the total defeat of the virus, and throughout this time the military will be with society – not out of obligation, but from a deep sense of civic responsibility, by the habit of helping, on the desire to maintain peace, implicitly in health Community.

December 2020