116 volunteers who are officials and public employees in State agencies, Red Cross members, farmers, minority ethnic people and staff of the hospital have took part in donation in “a Living Blood Bank” for Long Khanh General Hospital in Long Khanh townlet, Dong Nai province. Donors are found among people who donate their blood voluntarily and are selected on the basis of good health.
116 volunteers who are officials and public employees in State agencies, Red Cross members, farmers, minority ethnic people and staff of the hospital have took part in donation in “a Living Blood Bank” for Long Khanh General Hospital in Long Khanh townlet, Dong Nai province. Donors are found among people who donate their blood voluntarily and are selected on the basis of good health. All donors are available all the time to devote to free blood donation in cases of patients who need blood to help save or enhance their lives. Many of them have frequently donated blood to the hospital, two or three times during the past years. Especially, Master Ho Van Thuc, Head of Department of Testing Services of Long Khanh General Hospital has donated blood 29 times.
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Master Ho Van Thuc, Head of Department of Testing Services of Long Khanh General Hospital stands beside the list of blood donors |
The hospital receives blood supplies from the Cho Ray Regional Blood Transfusion and Haematology Centre with blood storage duration of between 21 days and 35 days. However, blood supplies are delivered to Long Khanh General Hospital with the extension of blood storage less than 17 days because blood supplies are transported to the Provincial General Hospital before delivering to Long Khanh General Hospital. Hence, the hospital’s blood bank stores only some percent of the supply in order to avoid to destroy expired blood. In past years, the hospital found it difficult to meet the situations in which patients required emergency transfusion (like traffic accidents and emergency conditions) due to insuffient amount of blood in its blood bank. For this reason, the hospital established and operated “a Living Blood Bank”.
In eight months of this years, volunteers donated 66 units of blood to the hospital, helping save the lives of 26 patients who required emergency operation. In cases of patients with heavy blood loss after an injury or operation that required blood transfusion, many volunteers were called to donate blood in order to have enough blood to save lives of patients. “A Living Blood Bank” helped the hospital save lives and save more than VND 42 million in 6 years from 2002.
To encourage more members to register on its blood bank list,
Long Khanh Regional General Hospital cooperated with the town’s Red Cross Chapter and Labor Union to disseminate information on voluntary blood donation and safe blood. Most people were easily misled by misconceptions and hesitate to donate blood at first time, but the hospital’s doctors made efforts to explain the blood donation process on a level that everyone can understand; as a result, many people participated in donating blood to the blood bank, said Director of Long Khanh Regional General Hospital Su Son.
Moreover, the hospital’s officials and staffs are ready to donate blood when the hospital runs out of blood and in emergency cases. Donating blood to save patients’ lives has been a tradition at Long Khanh Regional General Hospital.
Reported by Lam Vien
