Keeping the blood flowing

AHMEDABAD: Four of every 100 people in the city are blood donors, said Dr Vishwas Amin, director of the blood bank of Indian Red Cross Society in Ahmedabad. “It makes me proud of how far the people of the city have come to help their own. It shows that the people of Ahmedabad are very aware of the importance of blood donation,” he said.

The city, which has scores of Centurion blood donors, saw blood banks run dry with many making public appeals to citizens to donate.
“We saw a drastic fall in blood donations due to Covid-19 pandemic. People were scared to come out of their homes to donate blood,” said Amin. Due to the lockdown, the rate of donation dropped by about 50% overall. He said Ahmedabad is still a developing medical hub and sometimes more blood is needed than usual. To compensate, the Red Cross Society set up vans to collect blood giving donors an in-house collection facility.
Dr Ripal Shah, director of Prathama Blood Bank, said they had to contact regular donors to ensure they got blood for essential procedures. “We want to thank all donors who came forward and helped save lives. Today several Covid-recovered patients are also in need of haemoglobin, while Covid patients need blood plasma. We want to appeal to all to come forward and donate blood,” she said.
Dr Amin said there is a stipulated period between vaccination and blood donation. “We appeal to citizens to donate blood before they get vaccinated,” he said.
Pritesh Mehta, assistant general manager at ADC Bank told TOI that they collaborated with the Red Cross Society to conduct 101 blood donation camps at their 101 branches to help children with thalassemia.
“We got 1,000 units for the children. As humans, we felt obligated to help them and give back to society,” he said.
Dinesh Bahl, a Vastrapur resident, said he donated blood twice during the pandemic for friends.
“I know how difficult it was to arrange for blood when someone had a surgery. I appeal to all to resume donating blood,” he said.