I am doing a course at Apollo Gleneagles Hospital in Kolkata under Medvarsity Online Ltd. through distance learning. I am presently doing a contact program from 30 th July to 12 August in this hospital at Eastern Metropolitan bypass. It is my fourth day in the contact program. Today we did our class on Human Resource Management from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. We were asked to do a department visit on the same day. We are a batch of 30 students. We come from various backgrounds of doctor, hospital employee, housewives who are qualified doctors, nurses, paramedical staff. Students living far away from Kolkata like Durgapur, Tripura have come to this contact program on the above-mentioned dates.
I never gave blood anywhere before in my life. I thought primarily due to unhygienic condition and the chance of getting infected with disease was my primary fear. I loved the atmosphere of Apollo Gleneagles Hospital. The hygienic surrounding of Apollo Gleneagles Hospital will motivate you to give blood. Giving blood is a social work. It is a duty to the society. It is for the patients who need blood and it is the only thing which we cannot get in a shopping mall. It is produced by man for another human being. Blood has a limited life span. Blood is basically composed of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. A person giving blood will be able to get blood from the hospital when he or his relative is admitted to the same hospital.
I gave blood along with four students of Medvarsity Online Ltd. They are my close friends. Two of them are males and two are female donors. I am a donor with A+ blood. The hospital has a systematic approach of blood testing with sophisticated equipment imported from foreign countries. The costs of the equipment for blood testing goes around Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 75,000. The Blood Bank has equipments to store blood for a long period of time.
Procedure for Blood Donation:
The procedure for blood donation are as follows:
- I was asked to take to fill up the card at the reception where a technician filled up the card putting my surname first and then my first name. Then he wrote my age, sex and I was asked whether I had any blood donations before. I said, "No, this is my first time!"
- I was then taken to another room where a nurse was seated in the chair. She told me to take the weight and then she told me to wait a while my friends data are collected and blood sample taken to determine the type of blood. Then the same was done for me.
- The blood sample was taken. Only one drop was blood was taken in a slide from the finger tip and the blood was thrown in copper sulfate solution to see whether the blood has the right percentage of hemoglobin. If the hemoglobin is lower than the specific gravity of the solution, it will float. So it was found that I have the right percentage of hemoglobin.
- My blood pressure was tested by the doctor who is in charge of the Blood Bank. He was curious to know about Medvarsity. I clarified his doubts.
- I was taken to the blood testing area.
- I was asked to relaxed. The staffs talked with me with smile and told me that there is nothing to be tense about as it is only a small pouch of blood they will take. I asked them, "How much blood will u take?" The nurse said, "350 ml."
- The blood collection had already begun in my 3 friends.
- I am the fourth donor.
- I was asked to lie down in a chair which is quite comfortable. It is an adjustable chair. It is a chair whose height and the angle of inclination can be adjusted. It is a well-cushioned chair which will make you sleep after lying down!!
- I laid myself in the chair. I was made to lie and my upper arm was tied.
- I was told to fold my full sleeve shirt.
- I was given a small wooden piece to hold it tight and then relax.
- I was then told to relax the arm and a thick needle with a tube connected to the pouch was placed.
- The needle was inserted into my left arm at the junction of upper arm and lower arm.
- The pouch had the capacity of holding 350 mL blood.
- The blood was gradually going down and I never felt any pain.
- Only when the needle was inserted, I felt a pain there but after that no pain.
- I was told to relax and the tube was removed.
- A cotton was placed at the junction of my fore arm and upper arm.
- I was told to keep the arms folded for 15 minutes.
- After this donation, I was told to sit there for some time and given fruit juice.
- At the end of this session, we came out of the blood donation center.
We are students of Medvarsity and we came here for increasing our knowledge in blood testing. We had the opportunity to know it as closely as possible being the only four candidates who had the patience to wait for quite some time to know about blood testing from the person who is in charge of the Blood Bank of Apollo Gleneagles Hospital in Kolkata. After the class, we felt quite fortunate being a part of Apollo and being a blood donor in one of the leading hospitals in India.
The knowledge we gathered are as valuable as platinum for being a future administrator in a hospital.
History of Blood Testing:
- In blood testing, the venereal diseases was tested at the initial stages.
- In the 70s and early 80s, hepatitis B was tested.
- In 1985-86, HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) was tested.
- In 1989, government made laws for compulsory testing of blood and the following things were tested:
- Hepatitis B.
- HIV.
- Venereal Disease.
- Malarial Test.
- Licensed blood bank was started after that under the government laws.
- Drug control was made and the laws were made stringent.
In blood preservation, CPDA1 , an anticoagulation is used so that the bloods do not coagulate or clump after the donation.
As the blood comes out and anticoagulant added to it, it becomes a medicine under Drug and Cosmetics Rules, 1945.
- According to the order of Supreme Court in 1998, blood cannot be collected from Professional Donor. It is important to state that a professional donor is a person who gives blood for money. In the past, it has been found that these professional people have low blood cell count and due to frequent giving blood, the required blood components are not found and they are often found to have narcotics in their bloods which is not all desirable. Their lifestyle is different from the voluntary blood donors in the sense that their blood often contains something which is not desirable for transfusion to another recipient of his blood. So it had to be banned under court order and so nowadays a person giving blood is not given money but an opportunity for his family to take blood if the patient or his family gets admitted to the hospital. But on discharge, some blood should be given as per the specific hospital rules.
- From June 1, 2000, Hepatitis C testing was also made after blood donation.
It is to be noted that the medical laws we follow is from U.K. The Indian Medicine follows 3 pharmacopeia: USA, UK and Indian. Among these three, British is given more emphasis.
A blood bank is run on "no profit —- no loss" basis as per the order of the Central Government.
A stand-alone blood bank is made with the blood supply mainly from the relative of the patient and blood donation camps done regularly in a year.
Blood becomes a pharmacy product under the name "solvent detergent treated plasma."
Red cell is given to Anemia and Thalassaemia patients. Red cell is called "packed cell" in medical terms. A red cell is 230 ml in a 1 liter blood of man. Packed cells are stored at 2 to 6 degree Centigrade.
Platelets are stored at 22 degrees in a shaker. The shaker is run for 5 days continuously so that the platelets can thrive.
Plasma is yellow in color. It is 150 mL in 1 liter of blood. It is given to liver disease patient. Plasma is stored at -18 degree Centigrade.
Platelet is 30 mL per 1 liter blood. It is given to blood cancer (leukemia) patients. Platelets are stored at 22 degree Centigrade.
It is to be noted that in a 350 mL of blood of the donor, 49 mL is anticoagulant.
Every year the machines for storage of blood of the donors are calibrated by an organization run by Central Government called Eastern Regional Testing and Calibration Laboratory. Calibration is a method in which the temperature of the machines storing the blood of the donors are checked. It is a special technique done by an organization whose duty is to see the machines are okay for future use.
VDRL is Venereal Disease Research Laboratory.
At the time of admission, a patient asks for blood to the blood bank. If he has given blood to that particular hospital before, he gets blood and during his discharge, his relatives are asked to give blood. The relatives may argue but it is duty of the person in charge of the blood bank to counsel him.
Before my blood donation, the nurse asked me whether I had a disease like jaundice, any allergies, recent medicine uptake etc. If I take an aspirin before my blood donation, I was told by the supervisor of this blood bank that my blood platelets loses functional ability in the last 72 hours. So it is always advised to give blood after 2 hours of heavy meals.
We were eager to know how a pathologist comes to know whether the donor is a professional donor or not. It can be known by the low hemoglobin count and the number of punctures in the arms.
After my blood donation and the knowledge we gained from the person in charge of the blood bank in Apollo, we felt that a bottle of blood can save life in crucial moments. It is something as priceless as gold. It is something a person whether a rich or poor has to take without any discrimination in race, sex, class, etc. It is something which will be produced for oneself and for others in his community. A blood is a priceless gift a man can give to another human being.
