As of Friday, Mumbai city had blood stocks to suffice for just 10-12 days, according to officials from the State Blood Transfusion Council (SBTC). Blood donation activists are pinning their hopes on housing societies to save blood banks from running dry by organising small camps within their complexes.
The activists said with limitations on travel and pressure to avoid stepping out, such camps will prove convenient for donors. Last month, nearly 25 societies held camps and now a few more are lined up. To replenish the reserves, activists said, at least 10 such camps should be held every day.
“The focus is on organising as many camps as possible. Holding large camps has become difficult and it is feasible to conduct camps close to donors,” said Vinay Shetty from Think Foundation.
He said consenting housing societies can pre-register donors and call them as per scheduled time slots to ensure physical distancing. “We ask them to register a minimum of 40 donors. This doesn’t always mean that all 40 will donate. We get an average of 30 units from camps held in housing societies,” Mr. Shetty said, adding a society on Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road has planned a camp on Saturday and another one in Bhandup has a camp on Sunday.
While some societies have enough open space or a clubhouse where the camp can be set up, some request for a blood donation van. “This again is a problem at times as there are merely 10-odd vans in Mumbai and Thane,” Mr. Shetty said, adding the government-run blood banks should have more vans.
“Many large camps are lined up now,” Dr. Arun Thorat of SBTC said, adding the utilisation of blood has been low as surgeries have been postponed and only emergency procedures are being carried out. “In May, there were nearly 120 camps held in Mumbai,” he said.
Some blood bank staff have been demanding personal protective equipment (PPE) kits for the camps. But Dr. Thorat said guidelines from the Centre said basic precautions like wearing masks and gloves are enough. “Donors should also wear masks and follow physical distancing. Sanitisation practices should also be strictly followed. The guidelines don’t say that blood bank staff need to wear the full PPE,” he said.