‘World Red Cross Day’ – 8th May ONLY 1% OF THE PEOPLE DONATE BLOOD WHERE AS MINIMUM REQUIREMENT IS 3%

Kishan Gopal Behl – Red Cross is an International Society for providing relief in suffering in time of War, Disaster or any other emergency. It was founded in 1863 at Geneva, Switzerland  and has since then  spread all over the World and is known for its humanitarian approach and neutrality in treating persons wounded in war or other similar disasters. Its main aim is to save life and provide immediate relief to wounded persons and remove them to safer places for further treatment. The love and care with which the Red Cross Society treats the patients is exceptional and unparalleled as it is done during the time when the atrocities are at the maximum and one had to work without caring for one’s own life.

They say,’ Noblest way to save life is to keep the body healthy and donate blood after every three months as during the period the body recoups the required quantity of blood and it can again be donated without any ill effect to the body. Only healthy persons below the age of 65 years of age can donate blood’.

To save life during emergency in a hospital, the hospital should be fully equipped to take on the emergency which normally is caused by some accident with physical injury where lot of blood has already been lost needing immediate replacement with facility to operate upon them. The chest and cardiac cases  constitute  another emergency where immediate life saving drugs/injections or likewise medicines and oxygen with connected equipment is immediately required to save the life of patients. Once life saving action has been taken, the patient can be shifted to fully equipped hospitals for further treatment. Every hospital is supposed to have the above facilities and efforts should be made to provide all such facilities and equipment and medicines and of course qualified doctors, once it is named as hospital. Govt. must ensure that unless the above minimum facilities are not there it is not called a hospital, whether private or public.

The most life saving device is the provision of Blood, which is invariably required for transfusion to the injured person who has already lost it in accidental injury. The blood cannot be synthesized and its only source is blood donation by human beings. As you all know, blood appears red and of the same colour in all human beings but actually it has a variety of gradations and may contain certain diseases or may be of HIV and AIDS epidemics. As such a donor’s blood is tested to find the blood group type and is screened for infections like HIV, hepatitis B and C, syphilis and malaria. The blood as taken from a donor cannot be transfused directly in to receiver as it has to be classified as it is hygienically not correct to do so. Though, in movies, some times, they show the blood being taken out from one person and simultaneously transfused to other but it is banned now as we are not aware about its components. Fresh blood be taken from the blood banks for transfusion and blood donated be give to the bank. Blood cannot be stored as such but has to be transformed into its components. IMA Blood Bank transforms it into 100% Blood Components. The rationale behind making 100% components is that firstly it is a scientifically appropriate therapy, secondly different components require different storage conditions and thirdly more than one patient can benefit from a single donation leading to optimization of a scarce resource. Other than red cells, the IMA blood bank provides platelets and fresh frozen plasma and specialized products like Pediatric units and exchange transfusion products etc.

IMA accepts the blood of only healthy persons and encourages them to become regular donors. Noblest way to save life is to keep the body healthy and donate blood after every three months as during the period the body recoups the required quantity of blood and again becomes ready to donate without any ill effect to any part of the body. Only healthy persons below the age of 65 years of age can donate blood.

There are many blood banks but the IMA blood bank there is a high degree of automation in the form of robotic machines, barcodes and ERP software to bring a precision and quality.

The IMA blood bank is committed to needy and poor patients. Blood components are given free to ‘Below Poverty Line (BPL) card holders admitted to Govt. hospitals. It contributes more than 60% of the total voluntary blood supply in the State of Uttarakhand. The thalassaemic and haemophilliac patients need regular supply of blood for their very survival.

Only 1% of the population donates blood where as the minimum requirement is 3%. Let more young healthy persons come forward to cover the gap and save lives.

Don’t sell blood at any cost but save some one’s life, by donating it.

It is learnt that at some places even blood of inferior type is being supplied to patients in emergency and in connivance with some staff of the hospital are playing with the lives of the people, thinking that they are unlikely to survive to tell what has really been supplied. Such crimes are being committed to kill people instead of  saving them. It  is against the spirit behind the Red Cross Movement to save life.

On this World Red Cross Day let all those who are capable of donating blood should come forward and donate blood to save life of others, as their humble contribution.