Interview with Konstantin Pashkov

Donor movement in the transport industry is at the highest level. Officials from the Ministry of Transport donate blood twice a year at their office and participate in campaigns. Director of the Administrative Department of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation Konstantin Pashkov told us about the growing popularity of blood donation among transport workers.

How did the donor day tradition begin in the Ministry of Transport?

Mikhail Vladimirovich Klyonov, vice-rector of the Russian University of Transport (MIIT) brought the idea. He proposed to held donor day at the Ministry of Transport, when he was an employee of the Administrative Department of the Ministry. As you may know, it is completely unrelated to his professional activities. We have modern, creative employees, with many interesting ideas. One of them was to launch Donor Day. This fall, we have already had the fifth Donor Day. It is held twice a year - in February and in September. In June, our employees took part in retreat, held in the building of the All-Russian Professional Union of Workers of State Institutions and Public Services of the Russian Federation. The collected blood was donated to the Dmitry Rogachev National Research Center of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Immunology.

How many people do regularly participate in your Donor events?

It’s not about the quantity, but about the conscious decision of each person to help. If we talk about numbers, approximately 30 people are recorded each time, due to some circumstances around 20 come, but not all of them can donate blood because of health reasons. In a result, we regularly have 10-15 donors. It should be mentioned, that the number of volunteers in the Ministry is growing steadily with every donor day. Our good tradition is gaining momentum. So, we can congratulate ourselves.

Each donor movement has its own informal leaders. Do you have such leaders and how can you describe them?

Every time we see new faces and this is nice. Of course, there are informal leaders. They are representatives of our departmental railway security and the minister’s secretariat. We are very grateful to them.

Tell us more about your Donor days.

The so-called mobile blood transfusion station comes to us. It allows to donate whole blood or its components. The station is serviced by several medical workers, they are located in the Ministry of Transport Medical Center. The work is delimitated by zones. In one, a person can relax, have tea, in the next one - a blood donor receives a memo and agrees to the procedure. In the third zone, a person is examined by a doctor to check if he or she is healthy and can be a donor. Then a small amount of blood is taken for an express check of the hemoglobin level, the number of leukocytes and platelets. The last zone is a place of donation procedure. The day of donation, as well as the day of the related medical examination, are days off for the employee. A free lunch is organized for donors in the dining room of the Ministry. Also, the donor has the right to add an extra day to vacation. I believe that this is a good incentive allowing to attract more people to this wonderful tradition.

You have your own medical center, which conducts donor events. What opportunities does it provide for donors on an ongoing basis?

The medical center is organized to provide medical care to employees of the Ministry. We do not have a stationary blood transfusion point. In general, we have a departmental medical institution to which employees of the Ministry of Transport are attached. This is the Central Clinical Hospital of Civil Aviation. In this Hospital, our employees annually undergo a medical examination, during which they check their health with a wide range of medical specialists. They also have the opportunity to add the clinic as a part of general health insurance.

What measures of support for blood donation among employees, by your opinion, are most effective?

I think adult people have an understanding that donation is a good thing. People donate blood, first of all, because they have the opportunity to help. We support them by providing the possibility to donate in the office of the Ministry of Transport. It is very convenient, no need to go anywhere. For some of them the determining factors may be social support measures: day off, free lunch, getting the badge “Honorary Donor of Russia”.

How is the donor movement developing in the transport industry? What subordinate organisations can be mentioned?

It should be said about The Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport. Together with industry universities, they take part in such events. Lokomotiv Football Club, a structure of Russian Railways also holds blood donation campaigns. Donation is developed among various railways offices in the regions. A number of Russian airports should be mentioned. The donor days were held in the air harbors of Moscow (Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo), Yekaterinburg (Koltsovo), Nizhny Novgorod (Strigino), Khabarovsk, Rostov-on-Don. A train dedicated to blood donation was launched in the Moscow metro. While citizens go to work, home, to a meeting or for business, they have the opportunity to know more about donor movement. It is a good PR-campaign. It is not a complete list of transport organizations conducting Donor Day. It is nice to know that transport workers make a significant contribution to the important undertaking!

Our traditional question: what would you wish to donors and those who are just about to join the donor movement?

I would like to say that being a donor is an honorary title, it deserves respect. I want to thank donors for their courage and for the desire to help others. To those who are going to join the donor movement, I want to say that this is noble, but not everyone can become a donor. You need to be confident in your health, in your abilities. I want to wish health and well-being to everyone, and to donors, and to those who are going to join us, and to those for whom blood is being collected. The most important is that the donation should be regular, and not urgent, it the only way to ensure a constant supply of blood components, including for victims in emergency situations. A person who donates blood regularly is a donor whose blood is the safest due to regular examination and monitoring of his health. From the group of repeatedly donating donors, a group of “personnel donors” is formed, from which a group of “urgent” reserve can be formed.

Other interviews

19.03.21

Interview with Gulnara Letfullina

It is always teamwork to organize donor actions and events. Gulnara Letfullina, chairman of the donor team "Nadezhda" told us about the organization, arose from a small group of like-minded donors at the A.I. Yevdokimov Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry.

19.02.21

Interview with Olga Valerievna Eichler

The Blood Service has been at front of the fight against coronavirus infection in 2020. The selfless work of doctors in clinics, the saving of patients - all this would be impossible without timely provision of medical institutions with donated blood. To achieve a common goal, it was required to restructure the work of the entire Blood Service in the shortest possible time, to find quick and effective solutions. Olga Valerievna Eichler, Head of the Department of Medical Support for Conversion and Extreme Work and the Blood Service of the FMBA of Russia, spoke about how the work was organized in this difficult time.

22.01.21

Interview with Igor Kastyukevich

2020 has become a challenging year for the donor movement. During the pandemic, the number of donors has decreased. But it also created a new movement, blood donors responded to the call #BeaDonor. Igor Kastyukevich, deputy head of the ONF Executive Committee tells us about and what this year was remembered for.

05.12.20

Interview with Elena Stefanyuk

Donor's breakfast is complicated and reluctant at the same time topic for donors. The list of prohibited products before a donation is quite long. Therefore, drawing up a donor's breakfast menu is almost a challenge. How to make a balanced, interesting and tasty menu? Donors regularly ask themselves this question. Apparently, this is the reason for the activity and creativity of the participants in the donor contest. How the competition was organized and held, why healthy eating habits are so important for blood donors, and is there an ideal donor's menu - Elena Stefanyuk answers, Director of the National Fund for Health Development, Deputy Chairman of the Coordinating Council for Blood Donation at the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.

26.11.20

Interview with Galina Kobzeva

Each year on October 20th, Worldchefs celebrates International Chefs Day. The "Donor's Breakfast" competition was held in the branch of the Penza College of Food Industry and Commerce in the village of Shemysheika, with the participation of the Penza Regional Clinical Blood Center and the regional newspaper "Novoye Vremya". Galina Vladimirovna Kobzeva, head of the Donor's Breakfast project and executive secretary of the Novoye Vremya newspaper told about this competition and the importance of nutrition for blood donors.

23.09.20

Interview with Irina Razinkina

The number of donors has declined sharply in the Blood Service institutions during the pandemic, but the Spartak football club came to the patients' rescue. The Red and White ones managed to quickly organize and carry out the event "Dignity is in our blood", the players and fans of the club responded to the call and saved many lives. Irina Razinkina, the head of the "SPARTAK for Children" Foundation, told us about the details of campaign.

06.07.20

Interview with Lyudmila Ramkulova

The Irkutsk Regional Blood Transfusion Station prepared a series of videos about their fellow countrymen, famous people, united by one idea - blood donation. The "Usual Day" project became the winner in the "Best Video" category of the All-Russian competition of Blood Service professional skills. Lyudmila Ramkulova, a specialist at the Irkutsk Regional Blood Transfusion Station, has told us about the project.

23.06.20

Interview with Elena Gubanova

An information booklet about women’s donation was presented by The Stavropol Regional Blood Transfusion Station to the All-Russian Competition of the Professionalism of the Blood Service. It became one of the winners. Elena Gubanova, pr manager of the Stavropol Regional Blood Transfusion Station will tell us about creation and development of the “Women’s Donation” project.

15.06.20

Interview with Alexander Bashminov

The video “A Hero on the court - a Hero in Life” won in the category “Best Video” of the All-Russian contest of professionalism of the Blood Service by the Perm Regional Blood Transfusion Station. It is about donor athletes and was made together with the Parma Basketball Club. Alexander Bashminov, General Director of Parma Basketball Club, talks about how this project was implemented and cooperation with the Perm Regional Blood Transfusion Station.

25.05.20

Interview with Tigran Muradyan

A large donor campaign “Good in our blood” called by the organizers the most unusual in the history of the university’s donor movement was held on 16-17 and 20-24th of April in the Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University. Tigran Muradyan, the head of the medical department and lieder of the donor movement of the university since 2010 told us how to conduct donor activities during combat against the spread of coronavirus infection.

16.04.20

Interview with Maxim Galimov

The Sverdlovsk Regional Blood Transfusion Station has become one of the winners of the All-Russian Blood Service Professional Skill Competition. The project “Rodnaya krov'”* won second place in the nomination “Hearts beat as one”, as one of the best projects in the field of blood donation and its components, implemented by blood service institutions together with non-profit organizations. Maxim Galimov, deputy chief physician for the medical department of the Sverdlovsk Regional Blood Transfusion Station told us how family values and ties help in the development of blood donation, how a long-term partnership with the Orthodox Charity Service brings spiritual meaning to donor campaigns.

27.03.20

Interview with Tamara Mamontova

The project “Vagon blagodarnosti” by the Novosibirsk Clinical Center received a special prize “for an innovative approach highlighting the donation” at the All-Russian Blood Service Professional Skill Competition. Tamara Mamontova, pr manager of the Novosibirsk Clinical Blood Center, tells about how the Novosibirsk Blood Service presented its 80-year history to the subway passengers.

25.02.20

Interview with Irina Pavlenko

UNICONF — is the largest confectionery Holding in the Eastern Europe, it unites 19 Russian factories with 22 thousand of employees. Donor days held in the holding since 2012 as part of the project “Helping Children Is Easy” have already become an integral part of corporate culture. Irina Pavlenko, pr manager and the organizer of donor actions in UNICONF, tells us about their organization.

10.01.20

Interview with Denis Sinyaev

People deciding to devote part of their lives to blood donation seek support - from friends, colleagues, public organizations. Only few people know about state programs created to help the social undertakings of volunteers. One such program is the Presidential Grants Fund, the foundation that helped the graduate of Kursk Southwestern University Denis Sinyaev to create a blood donor club, the “Alaya liniya”.

27.11.19

Interview with Anna Dragina

The world's largest cosmetics company L’Oréal is socially responsible. It attracts its emploees to charity. One of the most ambitious projects in this area is the Social Responsibility Day, and part of it is a donor action. Anna Dragina, PR manager of L’Oréal Russia, tells about how donor campaigns are held in the Russian branch of the largest international company in the beauty industry.

04.09.19

Interview with Pavel Boev

Deloitte is a multinational professional services network, it provides audit and consulting. Deloitte is presented in 7 cities in Russia with more than 2200 professionals. Besides main services company has volunteer and charity programs. Employees are actively involved in the donor movement. Pavel Boev, Regional Manager for Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development of Deloitte CIS, told us about developing of the corporate blood donation.

06.08.19

Interview with Nelly Chomyakova

The employees of the largest Russian international airport “Sheremetyevo”, with route network covering more than 200 directions, have been regularly participating in donor actions since 2008. The Chairman of the Primary Trade Union Organization of Workers of the JSC Sheremetyevo International Airport Nelly Khomyakova told us how the airport management supports the donor movement.

23.07.19

Interview with Tatyana Yeremeeva

The Donor day in the Gnesins Russian Academy of Music is like a revue. Each volunteer chooses his part to help in preparing blood donation campaign, and dealt with in a responsible manner. Students of the Academy truly believe that their “musical blood” will not only help restore health, but also open new creative abilities in people. This was told to us by the leader of the donor movement in the the Academy, Tatyana Eremeeva.

16.05.19

Interview with Ramil Khamitov

Many innovations are being introduced at the Republican Blood Transfusion Station in Ufa, aimed to create comfortable conditions for a donor. All improvements are carried out in the framework of the project “Prudent donation”. Ramil Khamitov, Chief Physician of the Blood Transfusion Station of the Republic of Bashkortostan, talks about how this project is being implemented.

22.04.19

Interview with Alexander Vlasov

Moscow airport “Domodedovo” has conducted Donor's day twice a year for a period of 8 years already. Part of the donor’s activities has been hold by administration of Domodedovo city district. Alexander Vlasov, press secretary of “Domodedovo” airport, will tell us more about how airport management supports donor movement, which became a part of corporate social responsibility.