Blood Donors necessary for saving lives

Jun 12, 2016 News

Guyana with the rest of the world will on Tuesday celebrate World Blood Donors Day. The event is being observed under the theme “Blood Connects Us All”.

A young lady donating blood at last Friday’s event

Director (ag) of the National Blood Transfusion Service, Dr. Pedro Lewis, credits the blood deposited into the blood bank to the those persons who find it important to perform the noble gesture. Lewis stated that there isn’t a fixed donor agency or organisation in Guyana; therefore the institution is ever dependent on voluntary donors.
The doctor suggests that at least one percent of Guyana’s total population should be dedicated blood donors. This, he claims, will ensure that the blood bank always has a ready supply to render assistance to persons in need.
According to the doctor, events organised by non-governmental organisations, religious groups, public entities and corporate Guyana are some of the main sources of blood donations. He identified specifically however, the continuous assistance which is provided by the Guyana Revenue Authority and the Guyana Red Cross Society Deposit.
When questioned on how frequent is the blood supply into the bank, he stated that “it is a steady process, because as you know blood only lasts 35 days.” The doctor expressed that the NBTS tries to balance the input and the output of blood so as to maintain an adequate supply.
He further stated that the most in-demand blood type is O+, following in the ranking are types B+, A+ then AB+. Trailing the aforementioned types are their corresponding negatives. He stated that the O+ blood type is most in-demand because 80% of the Guyanese population falls within that category. This translates to mean that patients needing blood are more often than not O+.
Still on the point of the demand on the supply, Lewis was asked whether the recent spate of trauma cases admitted at the Georgetown Public Hospital would have placed a strain on the bank’s supply. Lewis said that the entity has managed to deal with the increase of the emergency cases by ensuring the supply is constant.
He said that the wastage rate of blood at the entity is minimal. The Director (ag) mentioned, “One of our mandates is to educate the doctors to use it (blood) properly, so that they don’t misuse the blood, also we try to prevent the blood from being expired, we want it to be used.”
He was unable to give an account of the total unit of blood in the bank. “The amount changes daily due to requests from the hospital and the input from donors.”
On Friday last, the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) hosted an event in the GRA parking lot on Lamaha Road commemorating the international occasion. The event was held with the intention of expressing gratitude to NBTS’ donors over the years.
The Director (ag) wishes for more entities to become involved in hosting blood drives. Lewis believes that similar events to that held last Friday should be frequent; the doctor said “it should be an every week something.”

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