With surgeries on rise, hospitals face blood shortage in Mangaluru

MANGALURU: With surgeries on the rise, many hospitals here are experiencing a shortage of blood. The string of holidays and the hot and humid climate are contributing to the shortage.
An official from KMC Hospital, Mangaluru, said the hospital is noticing a shortage of A +ve and AB +ve blood for the past 15 days. With the holiday season, the number of blood donation camps being held has also reduced.
An official said that in April and May, there is always a crisis in availability of blood. Since few mega blood donation camps have been conducted, the hospital has to depend more on NGOs and individuals. “On an average, the KMC blood bank requires 70 to 80 units of blood every day. This also includes the distribution of blood to 15-20 nursing homes in and around Mangaluru. Most the medical college hospitals have their blood bank. We request donors to come forward and donate blood. The only replacement for blood is blood,” the official said.
Another official said that the hospital has a lot of outstation patients. “During April-May, a lot of planned and complicated surgeries are performed at the hospital. The outstation patients who come here, are not accompanied by relatives. Hospitals have noticed a reduction in blood donation during peak summer, especially when the humidity is high. Donors are less, because of the hot and humid climate. We generally see a lot of volunteers coming forward to donate blood between October and December, and there is a drastic drop in the number of blood donors during April and May. Blood donation is generally low during the holy month of Ramzan, and the following few weeks,” an official said.
Visually challenged donate blood
A group of visually challenged members from the Sri Sharada Andara Geetha Gayana Kala Sangh, Mangaluru, donated blood at the Red Cross blood bank on the occasion of World Red Cross Day, said C A Shantaram Shetty, chairman, Indian Red Cross Society, Dakshina Kannada. Manjunath inaugurated the event by lighting a lamp, and motivated people to donate blood.