BMRCI sends skin to Command Hospital, faces Covid-linked shortage from donors

BENGALURU : The skin bank at the Bangalore Medical College & Research Institute (BMCRI), located on the Victoria Hospital premises, is facing a severe shortage of skin from donors, mainly due to the Covid pandemic and also lack of awareness among people to sign up as skin donors.

After sending strips of cadaver skin to Air Force Command Hospital, the BMCRI Skin Bank is now left with just a few square centimetres of skin grafts, which can be used to treat only two or three burn patients. 

The request from the Command Hospital came on Saturday for the first time, days after Group Captain Varun Singh, who has suffered 85 per cent burns in the helicopter crash that killed Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on December 8, was admitted there.

Group Captain Varun Singh is the sole survivor in the crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu. His condition continues to be critical but stable, said sources from the Command Hospital. 

BMCRI sources said the bank gets around 1,000-1,500 sqcm of skin from one cadaver, and to treat one person with more than 50 per cent burns, skin from at least five donors is required. 

“The bank was closed because of the pandemic and there is now a severe shortage of skin. Many people don’t know that they can donate skin. We have limited availability of fully processed skin for use on burn patients and we have sent our stock to the Command Hospital. If our hospital requires skin grafts then we will have to source it from skin banks in Mumbai or Chennai,” said a senior doctor at BMCRI on condition of anonymity.

“Now, we are getting one or two cadavers a day. The hospital has fallen short by almost 50-70 per cent from the pre-pandemic days in terms of skin donations,” he added. Every month, the bank receives seven to eight requests, but it does not have enough reserves.

Skin graft ups survival chance

The doctors said that the cadaver skin is also used as a temporary covering over a burn wound. It can be stored at sub-zero temperatures for up to five years.

The skin, however, has to be harvested within six hours of the death of the donor. It takes two months to process donated skin before it becomes ready for use.

The processed skin graft can be used on patients who have suffered over 40 per cent burns to prevent loss of water, electrolyte, heat and protein. It also stops infections and improves a patient’s chances of survival.

“The Command Hospital said there was a requirement for skin graft with more than 60 per cent burns. We cannot disclose the number of graft strips sent,” the doctor said.

Donated skin grafts are accepted only with the consent of relatives or family members.

It is completely processed and treated. It is neutered serologically and used as a covering for any major burn injuries.