The first workshop under the banner of “Role of Colleges In Taking Karnataka Towards 100% VBD” was conducted at Rani Chennamma University, Belgaum on 31st August 2012.
Jointly organized by Sankalp and NSS unit of RCU, the program saw the participation of about 200 student and teacher representatives from about 50 colleges under the university hood in Belgaum. The university Registrar Dr Patil, Dr Sundar senior doctor and asst professor from blood transfusion centre NIMHANS, Dr Ganga and Dr Virgi from KLE Hospital Blood Bank, Belgaum, Lalith Parmar the President of Sankalp India Foundation and Dr Chandrika the NSS Coordinatior of RCU were the guests of honor.The major highlights of the program are covered under relevant sections.
Registration and Inauguration
After all participants registered themselves and collected the specially designed kits (inclusive of informative and publicity brochures, pamphlets, newsletters, posters, team red manuals etc), the program began with the singing of Vande Matram the national song. Dr Chandrika welcomed all the guests and the lamp lighting ceremony was held. Following this, the Registrar stressed on the need for greater awareness for voluntary blood donation in his address.
Presentations
A host of topics were covered by speakers throughout the program. Lalith Parmar, President of Sankalp highlighted the goals and vision of the Rakta Kranti program and the reason for coming together for such an event. He also stressed on greater focus on quality centric blood donation drives where Sankalp, blood bank and the organizers work together to get the perfect blood donation drive.
Dr Ganga, the blood bank medical officer of KLE Blood Bank stressed on the various technical aspects of blood donation, blood products in general and certain dos and don'ts of blood donation. Following this was a very informative Q&A session handled by Dr Sundar from NIMHANS. Students came up with a wide range of questions and he explained the meaning of Hb, the eligibility criteria for a blood donor and also gave valuable advice on post donation, reaction handling etc.
The final session of the day was handled by a senior Sankalp volunteer and was focused on the topic as to how to organize a safe, effective blood donation drive. He laid out the best practices to be followed, the right processes to be adopted, pre, post and donation care, few facts about prevailing blood donation situation in Belgaum and the need for regular camps evenly spaced throughout the year. Addressing the students to be the flag bearers of the blood donation drives to be held in their respective colleges, the session also focused on simple howtos for awareness creation, drive publicity and motivated the students to plan and execute a wonderful blood donation drive.
Finally, Dr Chandrika again urged all college faculty members to plan blood donation drives soon and coordinate with Sankalp. Mr Ramesh from RCU delivered the Vote Of Thanks.
The event seemed to have created the right ripple with a host of students and teachers discussing possibility of blood drives in the future. Hoepfully, Rakta Kranti will light up Belgaum!