Blood banking needs some more detailing

Blood banking is a sensitive issue; it has got a lot of factors to be considered, ranging from collection of blood to safe issue of blood.

Nowadays, there is a lot of unhealthy competition amongst different blood banks. But there is good future for blood banks, which are serving patients sincerely and honestly.

Really to say our blood bank New City Blood Bank, it is not boasting, but it is built on the foundation of humanity and pillars of service.

We are helping thalassemia children day and night by giving free blood units, whomever and any number of units required.

In coming days, blood banking is in the hands of voluntary blood donors. They will become the deciding factor for any blood bank; without their support no blood bank will survive.

So, in these columns we request voluntary blood donors not to donate in a haphazard manner, think twice and decide where to donate and for whom to donate. Their loyalty donation will help real sufferers, and help good service-oriented blood banks to serve more people.

In coming months, our blood bank is planning to purchase some blood bank machines to improve some more facilities to voluntary blood donors to maintain further more quality of blood testing and projects to help thalassemia children live longer, and we want to see blossom on their faces.

God gave boon to human beings that we can save a life by donating blood. While any other donation involves money, blood donation is involved with kind hearts and good minds.

Though blood donation motivation is done actively by electronic media, print media, and lectures given directly to students in colleges, I feel still motivation is not touching and moving hearts of blood donors.As per our statistics, out of every one thousand population, only four people are coming forward for blood donation. Our requirement is much ahead of that.

As per our resources, we are mostly preferring for components and 90 percent in the form of components. With this we are somehow satisfying the needy.

Apart from these problems, voluntary blood donors are panicky for blood donation for the prevalence of COVID-19 pandemic. Voluntary blood donors are mostly confined to their homes, fearing that if they donate blood they may get COVID-19 infection. We are counselling them by phone that our blood bank is following COVID protocol strictly. After convincing them, now a days they are slowly changing their mindset and coming to blood bank and donating blood.

Another major issue is gravid verses host disease. Many patients’ attendants do not know regarding this problem; they force us to collect blood from the patient’s kith and kin. Anyhow, we are taking much pains to convince them not to do so. Three years back, I came across a news regarding blood transfusion of a blood relative’s blood to a patient. The patient died after one month with GVHD.

Blood banks must keep in mind this GVHD factor, whenever collecting blood from kith and kin of the patient.

Our prestigious magazine Medical Buyer gives us good guidance from time to time regarding latest blood bank instruments; with that we have benefitted a lot. In our blood bank, we are testing blood units with routine ELISA method and have got facility for CLIA method testing also.

We are issuing blood units to various hospitals; sometimes they may come across transfusion reactions, most of the times normal. In either situation, we are not getting feedback from hospitals. If transfusion reaction occurs immediately, the transfusion attending staff should collect urine sample of the patient and also send the blood bag from which they gave transfusion so that either of us (hospital or blood bank) can find out where the mistake is or what is the cause for reaction. Various factors from cross matching to patient’s clinical history like allergic nature, etc., need to be considered. I request all my doctor colleagues to pay attention to this.