[Geomatics in the service of blood collection]

To achieve blood supply, EFS organizes mobile blood collection sessions (80% of whole blood supply), close to target blood donors. Mobile sessions planning is usually developed in partnership with organizations of voluntary blood donors, based on the experience of previous sessions. However, population moving to urban areas and lifestyles changing force to focus on objective demographic analysis to determine a prospective vision of potentialities to ensure blood supply.

For blood supply management, EFS recently implemented innovative methods of mapping, through Geographic Information System software (GIS) that allow a spatial representation of different indicators. Geomatics engineering gathers and processes spatially referenced information about blood collections and blood donors, combining data from EFS and data from IGN or INSEE.

The authors present some examples of geomatics applied to blood supply and a feedback on the implementation of these tools in a French region. These innovative tools enhance expertise and increase the mastery of analysis for blood supply strategies.