Supply to blood banks drops

An unlikely fallout of soaring mercury levels in the city is the alarming drop in supplies to the blood bank of Nanavati Super Specialty Hospital (NSSH). Medical officials from the hospital confirmed that there has been a 30 to 40 per cent dip in blood donors during the summer months of April and May. It turns out most of the hospital’s regular blood donors have gone out of station to escape the sweltering heat. Apparently, paucity of blood during summer months is a worldwide phenomenon with global health organisations like Red Cross urging summer blood and platelet donations to deal with seasonal shortage.

Closer home, shortage of blood is generally attributed to school and college holidays extending to one or two months, the common practice of people making the best of summer discounts offered by tour operators, and visits by friends and relatives around this time. Compounding the mismatch in the demand-supply of blood is the large number of crucial surgeries requiring large quantities of blood scheduled in summer.

Dr Rinku Bhatia, head, blood bank, NSSH, said, “It is a normal trend for donors to abstain from donating blood during the summer months. However this year, the situation has assumed alarming proportions as only 194 people have donated blood in April, which is far fewer than the usual average turnout of 300 donors.”

\"The shelf-life of donated blood is a maximum 42 days. So, we need to constantly replenish stocks in our blood banks. This is where we face the problem with dwindling number of blood donors during the summer months,\" she said.

“Most people prefer surgeries during their vacation which is during summer. So we need more units of blood during that period. To add to that, just a handful of blood donation camps are being conducted in summer because of college holidays,” she added.

NSSH has formulated emergency measures to tackle the contingency and ensure that there is a round-the-clock buffer stock of blood supplies. The hospital has tied up with external blood banks and other hospitals to augment its resources to meet the exigency. The hospital has also updated its list of second-rung donors who will be tapped in case of emergencies to ensure that crucial supply lines are maintained.