The Blood Bank at the Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy Memorial Government Headquarters Hospital will soon have component separator unit to ensure maximum utilisation of blood and cater to the emergency cases, said D. Parimala Devi, Dean of the Government Medical College and Hospital.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Blood Donor Day which falls on June 14 at a function organised by the Gandhi World Foundation here on Monday, she said that the blood bank here had a capacity to store about 500 units. During the calendar year 2015 from January to December, the bank had received 3,326 units and utilised 3,182 units of blood.
The unit would facilitate separation of fresh frozen plasma and platelet so that the blood could be utilised for different patients in need of specific component of the blood. Presently, the fresh frozen plasma and platelet are procured from Tiruchi to cater to the needs of patients. The fresh frozen plasma was widely used for persons afflicted with dengue fever and those with severe bleeding complaints. The equipment for the separator unit had been brought to the hospital. A high level team had inspected the unit and the unit would be inaugurated in course of time. Training for the personnel on separating the blood components was already on, she said explaining the expeditious action being taken in this regard.
She said that blood storage points were being set up at the block-level primary health centres across the district. In fact, these storage points were functioning efficiently at Viralimalai and Andakulam.
Earlier, she honoured G. Edwin, former Medical Officer of the blood bank. She distributed pamphlets to students and public. V.C. Subash Gandhi, coordinator of the foundation, said 180 donors had been enrolled for blood donation.
