A brief explanation of the air traffic controller professional activity

DOI: 10.5581/1516-8484.20110047 order to provide special care to first-time donors and improve communications between staff and candidates, a visual identification of donor status is used; this seems to contribute to a more personal approach. Finally, qualified blood donors are systematically invited to return for donation after a threemonth interval. Motivation to donate blood can vary broadly from altruistic reasons, such as helping someone who needs a transfusion or collaborating to the well-being of the community, to strictly personal reasons, such as getting a day off work or having blood tested for transmitted diseases, for instance. The decision to donate blood and return for further donations depends not just on altruism, but also on social responsibility, personal credit, social pressure, satisfaction, family motivation, personal characteristics and, mainly, a positive donation experience. Consequently, blood banks must develop strategies and incentives to retain donors such as a shorter waiting time, more personal attention, entertainment, enhancing blood donor satisfaction, minimizing adverse reactions of donation and offering a convenient and accessible place to donate. Special attention must be paid to the impact of donor deferral on donor availability. Custer et al.(7) showed that the effects of deferral on blood donors' return were more pronounced than expected, affecting both first-time and repeat donors. A balance between rational screening criteria and blood safety is therefore important to maintain the blood supply while mitigating the risks for donors and recipients. In conclusion, some of the recruitment and retention approaches applied in Ribeirão Preto may be used as inspiration by other blood banks. Strategies to encourage blood donors to return to donate more frequently, to create the right environment and make the process of giving blood a good experience, may play an important role to maintain an adequate blood supply. Studies on motivation, return rates, impact of deferral and adverse events among blood donors are being carried out in the Retrovirus Epidemiology Donors Study-II (REDS-II), International Component in Brazil, and together, with other regional studies, as the one presented here, may be helpful to better understand blood donors' behavior and fulfill blood transfusion requirements for our country, not only in quantity but also with quality.