Blood Bank at Daltonganj cries donors’ neglect

Blood bank in Daltonganj is itself most anemic. The bank has a free storage capacity to hold 1,000 units of blood  a day as it is equipped with non jerk refrigerator but on average it is 40 to 50 unit a day and sometimes it just goes dry too and the needy ones start messaging for blood on social media, which is responded to positively.

Technical Incharge of this blood bank Anand Mohan Chandra said that people just need blood from here but hardly anyone bothers that this bank needs to be given blood too. It is blood for blood. It is ‘take one unit, give one unit’. But people here just do not understand this, Chandra lamented.

The State government has waived the processing fee of rupees 250 on blood but the government wants that sensitive people and organizations should do all to keep this bank full of blood.

A health official remarked, “If any ATM goes dry a big noise is made and cash is rushed to ATM. But when a blood bank goes dry it makes no noise except by those who need it to save their near and dear ones.”

Chandra said, “As our Health Minister comes from Palamu there come many people to this bank flaunting their proximity to the minister and exert pressure on us to give them blood without taking its replacement at all.”

On being asked that blood has a life of 120 days when it should be transfused to the needy and if not then to discard Dr Rajesh of Sadar hospital said such a discard situation does not much arise here as here in Palamu blood remains too scarce.

Kalanand Mishra civil surgeon of Palamu finds a different reason for acute shortage of blood in this bank here as he said our bank caters to the requirement of patients of Latehar and Garhwa districts and as such there remains the crisis of blood here in this bank.

The mandatory provision of blood for blood does not apply to cops, naxals, accident victims, unknown person as for them blood is to be given to them without asking for its replacement. Chandra quipped “ If a naxal comes and blood is needed for him then who will replace blood for him. So is the case with accident and unknown people in need of blood. No replacement is required.

Women in Palamu are poor donors as they themselves have hemoglobin less than 11 gram and as such blood is not collected from women and girls here who have 10 or 9 gram of hemoglobin.