Interview with Inna Sakhno

What place does a blood donation take in the lives of students at Moscow University for the Humanities?

Donation campaigns at the university have been held for over 20 years. Twice a year, the team of the Blood Center named after O.K. Gavrilov visits us, and donors come to our Medical Center: many caring guys who sincerely want to help do not stand aside when it comes to saving lives and health. Among our donors, there are newcomers and “experienced” donors. Students are mainly involved in the campaigns, but there are donors among the staff and teachers of the university. Donor Days are organized by the Student Council and its division by the Good Deeds Service, the Office for Extracurricular Work with Students.

This year, everyone faced antiCOVID restrictions. How did you deal with them in the process of preparing and carrying out the donor action?

The main limitation was the inability to hold Donor Day in the spring of 2020, which the students were looking forward to. In the fall of 2020, the donor campaign was supplemented with an express test for a new coronavirus infection. Of course, the number of donors decreased - those who had recovered and doubted were screened out before the start of the action; during a medical examination, with minimal doubts, doctors did not allow students to donate.

What efforts are you making to promote blood donation?

The university has information stands dedicated to blood donation, with information about the preparation, the process of blood donation, about those cases when donated blood is the only "medicine" and hope for sick people. Before Donor Day, we use all channels: weekly and special editions of the radio newspaper, we arrange information stands in educational buildings, update and supplement donation information, talk about the peculiarities of preparation for donation, the process of donating blood. We consider personal information to be the most effective way to attract donors: we invite you to Donor Day, we tell both in study groups and social networks about the need and importance of donation. We get acquainted with the experience of our colleagues, we participate in city conferences on blood donation. We consider the communication platforms for blood donation in the Public Chamber to be especially important for ourselves - we try to participate in their work.

What communication channels work best?

First of all, personal communication: we talk about the preparation process, about the donation itself, answer questions depending on the knowledge of the guys, help overcome doubts, dispel fears.

What kind of donor support does the University leadership provide?

Our Donor Days are held in a specially equipped Medical Center on the territory of the university with the participation of our medical staff - a doctor, nurse. The canteen employees take an active part in the organization of the Donor's Breakfast, which is funded by the university - the tasty pies arrive on the table while they are still warm, tea and chocolate help to restore the donors' strength.

Donor student - who is he? How do students become donors, what is the most important thing in making such a decision?

We believe and know that our donors are real superheroes saving human lives. Often, thanking the guys after the donation, we hear in response: “We didn’t do anything special!” - and they modestly leave, as real superheroes - without attracting attention. For each of them, the decision to become a donor is something personal: a spiritual impulse, an inner attitude, a desire to help.

And our traditional question: what would you wish to donors and people, who are going to join the donor program?

Act from your heart, and if even a fleeting thought appears, the idea “I can, I want” - give this idea life. If you have doubts or fears - talk to those who have already passed this path, find out everything about donation, and just come to Donor Day with the thought that you are allowing living!