CHENNAI: THE Transport Department has made it mandatory for applicants of driving licences and renewals to come with a medical certificate identifying their blood group.
An order by the Transport Commissioner Dayanand Kataria issued last month said the applicants must submit a signed certificate from a registered medical practitioner or a testing laboratory attesting to their blood group.
Speaking to Express, a Regional Transport Officer in Chennai said the move would help emergency medical services to arrange for blood quickly from other sources for road accident victims, who often suffered blood loss.
There is a column for blood group information in Form 1A (medical certificate) as well as Form 4 (licence application) but the officer said the applicants tended to ignore this or else randomly filled the blank.
“By making the submission of medical certificate compulsory, it is hoped the instances of people mentioning wrong blood groups in the licence application can be prevented,” the
officer said.
Emergency medical service responders have welcomed the move. B Prabhudoss, head, marketing and hospital relations, GVK EMRI ‘108’ ambulance service, opined that the move had two benefits. While it helped the medical fraternity to quickly respond to emergency situations, he said the mandatory enforcement will create awareness among the public.
“There are still many persons who are not aware of their blood group, which is not only detrimental to self but also prevents them from donating blood to others,” he said.