Students on vacation in Tamil Nadu, hospitals reach out to offices for blood
CHENNAI: To ensure there is no shortage of blood, in view of colleges closing for the summer vacation, hospitals and the Tamil Nadu State Blood Transfusion Council are relying on corporate companies, especially in the IT sector, for voluntary donation of blood.
Usually, most of the blood donated is during camps held in colleges, say doctors. “We have a regular donors list, so we can call them. Since colleges will be closed, we will depend on IT companies for organising blood camps. The daily requirement of blood at the hospital is around 40-50 units,” said Dr Tamilmani, blood bank medical officer, Government Royapettah Hospital.
A doctor at the blood bank said every summer there is a shortage of blood, but patients’ attendants are encouraged to donate blood, apart from depending on IT companies. “We also face shortage for blood platelets, a blood component, as the shelf life of this component is only five days unlike red blood cells, which is 35 days,” the doctor added.
Speaking to TNIE, a senior official with the Tamil Nadu State Blood Transfusion Council said, “Closure of colleges is a disadvantage for blood donation, but we are approaching more corporate companies now. Unlike the situation before, after Covid more corporate companies are voluntarily coming forward to donate blood.”
The average requirement of blood will be 20,000 units every month across the state. During summer, there will be a shortage of 10-15%, the official added.