Crosswords International n06 - Health

International version N°6

Dear reader, This sixth international edition of the Crosswords magazine is focused on the Red Cross health activities with special attention paid to the importance of blood donation.

Wishing you all an enjoyable summer!

International Section Contact details for the International Section and further information: T: 45 02 02 42 - section.internationale@croix-rouge.lu

Blood Service Blood is needed – It is not something that could just happen to others Fairs, companies, schools, Blood Donor World Day, local events…volunteers offer their time to recruit donors. Just like doctors, they are trying to save lives.

Two to four times per year nearly 14,000 people donate their blood in Luxembourg. Yet each year, 1000 of these people stop donating due to lack of time, health or age limit (up to 65 years). In order to maintain selfsufficiency in Luxembourg, volunteers and members of one of the 10 Associations of Blood Donors in Luxembourg, are engaged in this recruitment activity. The main difficulty of this task is to find people ready to sign in for a defined period. There’s no secret to achieve this loyalty. The initiative must come from the donor "It’s useless to force people", notes Fred Hartung, Vice President of the Associations Agreement for the Blood Donor Volunteers in the Grand Duchy. During the fairs, recruiters record the inscriptions but they do not collect blood.

In Luxembourg, ten local associations, 9 of which acceding to the Agreement, participate in events to recruit donors. However, 20% of the registered donors will not go any further than signing up. The remaining donors, having passed several tests, will be recalled two to four times per year for blood donations (30 minutes) or plasma donations (60 minutes) in the CTS (Centre de Transfusion Sanguine) and in fifteen of the centres across the whole country. Some companies may offer free hours to the employees engaged in blood donation.

"When we recruit, we offer brochures, and we answer some questions”. Is it painful? How many times a year should we do this? Where can we donate? These are the main questions.

Everyone has his or her own reasons for offering his/her time to recruiting donors. René Konsbruck, Vice President of the Association of blood Donors and a member of the Luxembourg Association, has helped the Red Cross for nearly 40 years and wants to contribute to saving lives. "People often think they will become donors only when they will need blood", says Rene Konsbruck.

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Heart and cancer operations, childbirth, and other medical care services may require blood transfusions. "Being a volunteer blood donor can also be part of your regular health check-up. Blood tests are extensive and can detect different anomalies", says Fred Hartung.

Call for volunteers: Get involved in promoting blood donation! Whether you are an active blood donor or not, you can raise awareness of this generous act and help recruit new donors! Join one of the 10 Associations of the Volunteer Blood Donors in Luxembourg.

Contact: Marianne Breuer-Kohnen at 691 950 940 or breuerjm@pt.lu

Ambulances One transport and so many stories The active volunteers from the Ambulance service are becoming scarce, but Raymond Schuller, 65, is still there after nearly ten years of service, and he shares his stories.

When he retired in 2000 after a lifetime job at DuPont de Nemours, Raymond Schuller, now 65 years old, had his plan in mind: do something to help the Luxembourg Red Cross. "Many people seek help when in difficulty, but few are willing to offer it", he says.

Just retired, he helped to renovate the Red Cross ambulance building (on rue de l'Abattoir in Luxembourg). After days spent at the service, he knew the ambulance team and volunteer, headed by Tom Weber very well, and he became interested in their business.

Raymond followed first aid training sessions and started to study to become a paramedic assistant, even if he cannot get an ambulance degree due to his age. Available, due to his retired status, he has gone on daily missions generally between 6AM and 8PM: vehicle checks, transportation of patients to hospitals and clinics of Luxembourg and neighbouring countries, repatriation of patients from abroad (Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland and even Portugal or Austria) but also medical assistance at major events. "We do not take action in primary interventions such as domestic or road accidents�, says Tom Weber.

It is an invaluable aid for the paramedics who have less volunteers. The same phenomenon can also be observed in the case of the Civil Defence people. "We need people available on weekends and occasionally during the week and who are willing to accept a flexible schedule. It is not easy because, as a volunteer, a time investment for trainings and courses is required", adds Tom Weber.

On the other hand, Raymond Schuller gained a lot from his willingness to be a volunteer. Apart from the friendship built with his "colleagues", he is happy to "listen, comfort, reassure those patients who often have no one around them. They talk to us about their lives, their family problems and they trust us". He is delighted to help.

Call for volunteers: Become a First Aid-Ambulance volunteer!

Would you like to help people and get involved as a volunteer for the sick and wounded? To join the team of rescuers and paramedics of the Red Cross, contact us at 45 70 70-31 or ambulances@croix-rouge.lu

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The canine section: A daily commitment Becoming a volunteer of the canine section requires a long-term commitment. The section was founded by the volunteer ambulance service from Luxembourg-City in 1996, and now it includes 28 dog handlers and 18 dogs.

On average, the section is called out once or twice a month in Luxembourg or in the Luxembourg-German border region (in partnership with the local Red Cross) in order to search for people who have disappeared, suffered from a dizzy spell, Alzheimer's disease, or are inclined to commit a suicide.

The canine unit is also used abroad. They have searched collapsed buildings after gas explosions or earthquakes in Algeria (2003), Iran (2003), Morocco (2004) and Haiti (2010).

A team of six volunteers is always on call to be sent out within two hours. If international assistance is required, an alarm is given in coordination with the Humanitarian Aid Department of the Red Cross. The members of the canine section have to leave their work immediately in order to get on the plane of the "Luxembourg Air Rescue" with their dogs and material.

The rescue dogs have developed strong play and prey drive. They are trained intensively for their duties in difficult situations as, in general, humans can only survive 72 hours without water. It is necessary to intervene immediately after the incident.

Becoming a volunteer in the canine unit requires passing a two-year training program, several tests, and examinations both for the handler and the dog, skills in first aid, weekly training, etc. In addition to the initial courses members train twice a week for three or four hours to develop important reflections used during the missions

Aidsberodung: The guardian of the AIDS patients Friday, 10:30 o’clock in the morning: It is brunch time in the premises of the "Aidsberodung". About 20 people have come to eat together at the tables set in a circle. There are employees of the centre as well as people with AIDS and volunteers.

Malou Stumm, 44 years old, has been a volunteer for 14 years and Robert Schmit, 65 years old, for 4 years. Their roles are to be present, to listen, to give advice or even to give courses to approximately 15 residents of the centre and to those who come to eat together or take part in other activities and trips in relation to "Aidsberodung".

Robert Schmit says, "I came here a bit by chance. I had been retired for several months, and I felt the need to become active in the social sector. As a factory manager I could not focus on this during my career. I have passed a specific AIDS training program for volunteers, and I stayed."

Malou was driven by a different motivation: "I had three little children. The voluntary commitment was a good way to be active without being bound to a fixed working schedule. Working with people suffering from AIDS was also a way to help people my age. Moreover, volunteers were needed."

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Over the years, both Malou and Robert have met many different patients and have become friends with some of them. Robert remembers one person he had seen for the first time in a critical condition in the hospital. “We thought he would die but to see him recover gave me great satisfaction", he says and adds that one day the patient of African origin introduced him to his family as "a white brother".

The patients not only benefit from the company of the volunteers but also from their skills. For example, Robert teaches French courses.

Volunteering, however, can be very difficult. Volunteers often hear about terrible fates as the disease can be accompanied by drug problems and difficult family relationships. They also learn how to support patients who do not speak about themselves and simply come to the centre.

In general, people stay in the foyer between three and six months, but they can stay as long as 5 years.

Call for volunteers: Support people living with HIV/AIDS! Do you want to get involved in "Aidsberodung" to accompany people suffering from AIDS? Please contact the phone number 406251 or email at aidsberodung@croix-rouge.lu.

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