23rd February 2013: Sankalp India Foundation, organised for 3 units of Bombay phenotype for a critical patient receiving treatment at Istanbul University, Turkey.
On 20th February 2013, Sankalp India Foundation received a blood request from the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Istanbul University, Turkey. The hospital identified the patient's blood group as Bombay blood group and for the past 7 days they had been looking for blood donors across Turkey without any success. They came across www.bombaybloodgroup.org, an initiative of Sankalp India Foundation - which networks Bombay Blood Group donors, needy and associated blood banks in India. Once they approached the organisation to seek help, the first of its kind humanitarian effort to make available the blood units to the patient was initiated.
Though Sankalp India Foundation has regularly been organising blood units for patients across the country, this was an exceptional request since the units had to be transferred over a very long distance - across the borders. Thanks to the vibrant Bombay Blood Group donors community in Bangalore, all in a matter of 48 hours the 3 units of blood were donated and kept ready for the patient at Rashtrotthana Blood Bank, Bangalore. While the family processed the Visa and the paperwork, for the very first time temperature controlled logistics was put to use to enable safe transfer of blood for up-to 48 hours. With all necessary arrangements in place, the patient's son came down to Bangalore to collect the units on 22rd February and by the morning of 23rd, the units were on their way to the patient in Istanbul.
Since April 2012 itself, the team has organised for 101 Bombay Blood Group units for 50 patients in various parts of the India - and now including Turkey!
About BombayBloodGroup.org On 1st July last year, a group of individuals who shared a uniqueness came together on a lazy Sunday afternoon at Rashtrotthana Blood Bank, Chamrajpet. The event was being called the first ever Bombay Blood Group Donor's meet. The purpose was to explore the possible strategies to network all individuals, organisations and specialists relating to Bombay Blood Group so as to ensure best possible utilisation, awareness and availability of this extremely rare blood group. Little was it known then, that the organised attempt to being together individuals who share the Bombay Blood Group will bring about a synergy that will achieve remarkable results in the months to come.
The point to be noted are:
- several people with this rare blood group who were not donating regularly earlier, are now regular donors
- there is less harassment and psychological pressure on the regular Bombay blood group donors
- several of the requests were resolved by making use of the advancements in transfusion medicine and blood alternatives
- the network has handled blood requests and donors across the country - and now the world!
- steady progress is being made in matters that relate to judicious use of Bombay Blood Group and minimise inconvenience to Bombay Blood Group donors.
Congratulations BombayBloodGroup.Org members :-)
Preparedness: The Key To Success Receiving emergency requests of extremely complex nature on a routine basis, Sankalp volunteers make keen attempts to outsmart the problems by preparing aggressively. A blood request had come from Indore at the same time when Bal Thackeray died in Mumbai. The lady was critical and Bombay Blood Group was needed urgently. Maharashtra was on a boil and the probability of getting anything moving there was close to 0. From Bangalore or from Hyderabad it would have taken more than 12 hours to transport units since no direct flight was available. Battling the extreme situation, though a solution was found out in an immediate sense, the organisation took upon itself the challenge of preparing to transport blood for more than 12 hours safely. The target was kept at 36 hours since that would make it practically possible to reach every corner of the country with the blood units - safely.
It was a difficult pursuit since nobody in blood banking thought that it was feasible to transport units beyond a couple of hours. However, Google Guru gave the solution after intense search - they call it Temperature Controlled Logistics!. We needed a solution that would enable blood transfer over extended hours without the need of battery or power (so that airlines are willing to ship the units). The solution came in the form of a 14 kg box costing more than a thousand rupee. The specifications and test reports showed that it could maintain temperature in 2-8 degrees Celsius for 72 hours if conditioned as prescribed. The organisation spoke to the vendors and got the ball rolling to procure the boxes.
In the January, 2013 edition of Sankalp Patrika there was an article on page 3 which indicated how one could achieve transportation of blood units safely over long duration of time.
Fortunately, once we realised that blood will require to be transported across the border, we had the correct packaging solution right before us. In 2 hours after the final decision to make an attempt to help, we had the ice packs undergoing conditioning. The units travelled 26 hours without a glitch in the safety of the TCL packaging.
With the understanding Sankalp gained in this event, the organisation has 3 units of TCL on a standby for any emergency. The organisation also has the required know-how of mass transferring units of blood up to 72 hours without any kind of battery, power, refrigeration or special handling.
How Proactive Blood Banking Enables Saving Lives When the request to organise 3 units of Bombay Blood Group for the patient from Instanbul was received, a small meeting was organised on call to fix up a fail proof multi-level backup up strategy to ensure smooth work. While the volunteers demarcated the responsibilities, there was a need to identify one blood bank which could serve as the focal point for this activity - and the centre chosen was Rashtrotthana Blood Bank. In next 48 hours the blood bank offered exceptional service which made it possible to handle the blood request of such complexity.
- The blood bank accepted donations round the clock - which made it feasible for a Bombay Blood Group donor who was willing to donate blood late at night to come and donate.
- The blood bank facilitated the conditioning of the TCL packages - The medical officer and staff were available round the clock for coordination and logistical support
- The additional documents that were required to be prepared for shipping of the units were done effectively.
- The blood bank processed the collected units and tested them at a high priority leading to minimal time being wasted
The work done by the team at Rashtrotthana blood bank made it possible to save this life by their exceptional pro-activity at quick and effective collection, processing and packaging of blood. Sankalp thanks them for their continued support.