The Viels-Maisons fire station has become a well-known and popular address for donating blood on a Saturday, an initiative due to the deputy head of the Viels-Maisons fire and rescue center, Lieutenant Valériane Gatt Maillard.
The Viels-Maisons firefighters mobilized once again to organize, this Saturday, November 30, a blood drive in their barracks, carried out by staff from the French Blood Establishment (EFS). Although attendance was a little lower than the three previous editions, it is one of the very rare to be organized on a Saturday. It is thanks to scheduling of meetings with the center’s firefighters that it remains operational, when its initiator, Lieutenant Valériane Gatt Maillard, sees her local 2023 initiative spread to other rescue and emergency centers. departmental fire.
An idea from the lieutenant
This Saturday collection in the barracks of Viels-Maison, a village at the bottom of the Aisne, not because we hide a few coins in socks there, but because it is located in the very south of the department of Aisne, was born from the will of Lieutenant Valériane Gatt Maillard, the deputy head of the Viels-Maisons fire and rescue center. “We wanted to organize an operation which was a continuation of our commitment to the population. This is how the idea of instilling the desire to donate blood to our fellow firefighters was born. We have opened this collection to the population. »
After these collections started in 2023, this Saturday blood donation has become part of the habits of this territory straddling three departments: Aisne of course, but also the very close department of Marne and that of Seine- et-Marne, both bordering this Axon commune.
An idea that is now spreading throughout the department
The lieutenant’s original idea was emulated in other barracks in the Aisne: “This was not done in the Aisne,” said the lieutenant. “I initiated these Saturday collections last year. Other colleagues have taken up this idea. » Thus, the fire brigade centers of Braine, but also of Vic-sur-Aisne “and the SDIS headquarters in Laon” organize these blood donations on a Saturday. These Saturday operations are indeed appreciated by the EFS, indicates Valériane Gatt Maillard. “They are demanding because the majority of collections are carried out during the week and this does not always allow potential donors to leave the workplace to give their blood. »
The local population must get involved so that the collection continues
For this collection on Saturday, November 30, fewer appointments were made than for the one organized on March 16, particularly due to the cold temperatures of this fall Saturday. “Appointments were canceled at the last minute by people who were sick and therefore could not give. » Not enough to undermine the will of the lieutenant who wants the population to mobilize. “Everything will depend on her, because if this collection drops below 40 samples, the EFS will no longer come to our barracks. » An objective which was however on the verge of being achieved this Saturday, since 30 minutes from its end, this collection had made it possible to increase the EFS stocks by 36 samples.
A next collection will be organized again on a Saturday during the first half of 2025, without the precise date having been scheduled to date.
