After conducting a blood donation camp in Kundapur today where a total of 112 units of blood was collected, the bus which is operational only in the city of Bangalore, travelled to Mangalore for the first time. This clinic conducts a blood camp almost every day in Bangalore, after which the donated blood is transferred to the Central Blood Bank belonging to Indian Red Cross Society, Bangalore.
Manufactured at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore, the mobile clinic on wheels was launched by National Aids Control Organisation and is being run by the Bangalore branch of Indian Red Cross Society. The fully air-conditioned bus is equipped with facilities of a blood bank such as donor cots, collection monitor, refrigerators for storage of blood units, a rest room and a temperature control monitor.
Describing how the mobile clinic works, medical officer from IRCS Bangalore Dr Nagaraj E said that a blood donor first has to fill a registration form along with a questionnaire prior to donating blood, and has to be medically examined to certify if the person is qualified to donate.
“Since the clinic is equipped with four donor cots, four people can easily donate blood at a given point of time. After collection, the blood units are sealed in the collection bags and kept in the refrigerator for storage,” he said, adding that a total of 240 units of blood could be stored in the mobile clinic at a time.
“Usually, all the blood units are delivered to blood banks at a specified government or private hospital for a nominal fee within 6-8 hours of collection. The screening for the units of blood is done in blood banks, to check for abnormalities, or to separate whole blood into components such as red blood cells (RBC), white cells and plasma. Whole blood and RBCs should be stored for 35-40 days between 2 degree and 6 degree celsius, while plasma can be stored upto a year between minus 40 and minus 80 degree celsius,” he said.
The clinic has a medical team of 18 members, including a medical officer, when it is operational. Only disposable syringes and needles are used for blood donation, and rest of the materials and instruments are sterilised, said Ashok, technical supervisor of Indian Red Cross Society Blood Bank.
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