Red Cross: blood bank struggling to meet demand

An official of the Philippine Red Cross Mindanao Regional Blood Center said the demand for blood supply has doubled since May, the onset of the Marawi siege.

Dr. Myra Yee, blood center manager, said the shortage of blood supply has always been a perennial problem of the region but this time, it has gotten worse.

Yee said the usual blood demand in a month is over 1,000 blood bags but following the fighting in Marawi , requests now reach over 2,000 blood bags per month.

In May this year, 2, 200 blood bags were requested but the Red Cross only served 2,045 units of blood. The following month, 2,197

of blood units were needed but only 2,056 were supplied.

“We are the only bank in the country na permi deficit,” Yee said.

“Aside man gud sa mga sundalo na atong ga-supplayan, kay kita man gyud ga-supply sa Camp Evangelista, ga-cater sad ta ug needs sa mga hospital. Pero sa karon ang Camp Evangelista gyud ang priority, meaning nagstock na daan ta didto ug dugo,” she said.

“Gaka-meet man nato ang need sa soldiers pero ang mahitabo, walay gakabilin diri sa blood center nga stock,” she added.

Yee pointed out that blood drives are of great help to its office, citing that zero blood drives in a day could also mean zero blood bags in a day.

Ideally, Yee said a blood center should have a blood supply storage good for 3 days, aside from the ‘ready-to-go’ blood supply.

But for the blood center here, Yee said they consider themselves lucky if they have more than 30 ready-to-go blood bags in just a day.

“Kalooy sa dios, we have a continuing blood drive, everyday gyud siya kay dili man pwede mawala. Kung walay blood drive everyday, dili lang kay gamay lang ang supply, kundi muabot gyud sa point na zero supply na gyud, kay ang setup man gud, naay gakuha, pero walay gadonate, problema gyud na,” she said.

The Red Cross, in parthership with the Department of Interior and Local Government in Northern Mindanao (DILG-10), will host this year’s Dugong Guro where over 38,000 teachers and non-teaching personnel are expected to donate blood.

Launched last year, the Dugong Guro has collected over 17,569 bags of blood for its whole year campaign in 2016.

Each unit of blood collected, will be examined for five transfusion-transmissible infectious diseases – HIV, Malaria, Syphillis, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C – before the blood is transfused to patients.

Each needle used in the procedure is sterile and disposed after a single use.

What is important for donors to remember is to be in good health, to be well-rested, and to eat prior to donation.

The blood donation, Yee said, will result to the production of new blood cells and encourage better bone marrow function.

Yee said donors will also get a free checkup.