Officials urge steady blood donations after response to Urda rail crash

Blood donation centres in several regions saw a sharp rise in donors after the Urda rail crash, including many people giving blood for the first time. Health officials say immediate needs linked to the collision are covered, but are asking people to keep donating over the coming weeks because hospitals need blood every day.

María Carmen Muñoz Turrillas, director of the Castilla-La Mancha regional transfusion centre, said the response had brought the crash-related need under control. She urged donors to spread their visits over the coming months rather than concentrating them in a few days. Queues in Toledo reached about two hours, according to 20minutos.

Donations rise across regions

More than 8,300 people had donated at points across the Community of Madrid since the day of the collision, according to the regional Health Ministry figures reported by ABC. More than 1,500 donations were recorded in Madrid by that evening, with 32 fixed and mobile points involved.

In Málaga, the transfusion centre collected 400 bags on a day it opened for extra donations, twice its usual 200. More than 100 people queued, many for their first donation. Castilla-La Mancha had not requested blood from Andalusia, so the collected units remained there; Málaga’s centre said it was ready to send supplies if asked.

Officials advise people to donate through centres in their own area. In Castilla-La Mancha, fixed points include hospitals in Albacete, Alcázar de San Juan, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Puertollano, Talavera de la Reina, Toledo and Valdepeñas, as well as Toledo’s San Ildefonso specialist centre.

Source: 20minutos; ABC; Diario Sur.