Blood Bank on Wheels collected 6,371 units in the past one year

 

Mobile blood bank on a roll

Thiruvananthapuram, May 10, 2012

Blood Mobile has played a major role in popularising voluntary blood donation
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/article3403933.ece

Blood Mobile, a blood bank on wheels operated by the Kerala State AIDS Control Society (KSACS), has been contributing handsomely to blood collection and storage in the State, collecting about 6,371 blood units in the past one year.

The first blood donation campaign with the aid of Blood Mobile was conducted on the March 22, 2011. Since then it has been touring the State promoting voluntary blood donation, and has become popular with the young blood, who are the major donors and the backbone of voluntary blood donation programmes. Blood Mobile is scheduled for a tour in the city today in connection with a blood donation campaign at Technopark.

Easy access

In Kerala, on an average, about one per cent of the population annually requires blood transfusion. “Now, we depend on patients to bring in blood in cases of emergencies, which is quite inconvenient. We want to collect and store as many units of blood as possible so that hospitals can access blood easily,” says Nita Vijayan, joint director, Blood Safety, KSACS.

Blood Mobile runs in various districts, according to bookings, working with all major blood banks and function alongside blood donation campaigns. It aims at collecting 60 to 80 units of blood at each campaign. The air-conditioned bus has four booths for blood collection and four refrigerators for storing blood.

The blood collected is screened for five Transfusion Transmissible Infections (TTIs) such as HIV, HBv, HCv, VDRL and malaria. The TTI-free or safe blood is then stored in the blood bank and is issued as per requirement.

Blood Mobile accompanied the Red Ribbon Express, an exhibition on train aimed at creating awareness on AIDS, at the Thiruvananthapuram Central Station.

The Blood Mobile will conduct blood donation camp in connection with World Blood Donors' Day on June 4.

Copyright © 2012, The Hindu

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