Living Tours encourages the staff to do blood donation offering annually an extra vacation day to Livingtourians who donor blood.

Porquê doar sangue? 6 (boas) razões para o fazer:

Why to give blood? 6 (good) reasons for doing so:

To be a blood donor it looks like a quite simple gesture, but it can save a life.

We present six good reasons to be a blood donor.

Giving blood has no negative repercussions on your health and will only bring benefits to those who need it - for example, in cases of leukemia and many other cancer types. In addition, donating blood does not require any special planning: it is only recommended that you drink liquids and have a light meal after giving blood.

1. 450 ml can make all the difference

The development of medicine has increased the need for blood and blood products. There are more donors, but also more needs, and, in addition, it is necessary to consider the (in) compatibility between the various blood types. Donating blood involves collecting only 450 ml of blood, less than 10% of the 5 to 6 liters that flow in an adult's body.

2. You only need 30 minutes

The procedure for collecting a blood donation takes about 30 minutes and the minimum recommended intervals between each donation are 60 days for men and 90 days for women. Even the most committed donor can only donate blood 3 times a year (if he is a woman) and 4 times a year (if he is a man) - spending a maximum of two hours of his time in total.

3. You don´t need to prearrange

At the Blood Transplantation Centers (Centros de Sangue e da Transplantação) of Lisbon, Porto, and Coimbra, you can donate blood from Monday to Saturday from 8:00 am to 7:30 pm. On the Portuguese Institute of Blood and Transplanting website (Instituto Português do Sangue e das Transplantações, http://www.ipst.pt/) you can also consult the harvest sessions held at national level, by date, district and city.

4. Most people can donate blood

Having piercings or tattoos is not an obstacle to give blood. Just let four months go by and you can donate afterwards.

Having a common blood type does not mean it is useless as those are also used in greater quantities).

There are some constraints to donation, indirectly related to your health condition, but they are only temporary restraints. As soon as you are well you can donate.

Once the “quarantine” deadline has been reached - which can go from one week to 6 month – dependent on the situation – you can give blood again.

5. Free Hospital Taxes

Blood donors with two donations made in the last year or with more than 30 registered during their lifetime do not pay when they use a hospital emergency service and are also exempt from any moderating fees when carrying out tests at public or private health services with an agreement with the National Health Service (SistemaNS). Registration is made on the National Blood Donor Card (Cartão Nacional do Dador de Sangue), for each donation. The amendment to the law that regulates access to SNS benefits was approved in March 2016.

6. You are entitled to a special insurance

One of the rights preserved in the law is the right to an insurance that guarantees the blood donor the right to compensation for damage resulting from the donation of blood or accidents eventually suffered on the way to and from the collection site, in national territory.