Let us see the events as they unfolded in the month of October.
Rakta Kranti - Bangalore
Sankalp organized 9 blood donation drives in October collecting 777 units in Bangalore.
i) Alliance University
2 day drive was organized in Alliance University on 30 Sep- 1 Oct 2013. On Oct 1st, the Voluntary Blood Donation Day, there was a huge rush of students keen to donate blood. The turnout was much more than expected and all the resources for camp got exhausted! Some of the students had to go back without donation due to this. We collected 116 units in the camp making the total collection in 2 day drive 182.
ii) Robert Bosch
A series of drives were organized in different locations of Robert Bosch in the month of October.On October 3rd, a camp was organized in Bosch Electronic City. Venue here was excellent and very good publicity was done through mails, announcements and posters. This ensured a long queue throughout the camp. 104 units were collected in the drive.
Robert Bosch organised it's 5th blood donation drive of the year at the company's Bangalore Ecospace campus on October 8. Enthusiastic donors were there even before the drive began. In total 150-160 donors came up to donate blood. However, there were a high number of rejections due to low Hb and variations in BP. yet, 108 donors donated blood.
A next drive was planned in Bosch, Adugodi on October 9th. However, since blood was available in the city, this drive was postponed to Oct 31. Turnout was poorer than expected in this drive as many people were on vacation. As with other offices, good publicity was done through mails, announcements and posters in this venue as well. 128 turned up with 95 of them donating blood.
A camp was organized in Bosch, Hosur Road on 22 Oct 2013. This camp also saw a great donor inflow. 211 units were collected in this camp.
iii) Steer Engineering
Sankalp organized first blood drive in Steer Engineering on Oct 3rd. This was a great camp handled very well by the doctor and staff. 58 units were collected with just one minor reaction. One of the few exemplary camps, where everything went smoothly and without any issues.
iv) Fedex
First drive was organized in Fedex on 12th Oct 2013. The support from company was very good in this camp. They provided fruits and t-shirts to all the donors. A good turnout was seen in the camp with people from different locations coming forward to donate. 50 people turned up for camp and 39 units were collected.
v) Ram Temple
A blood donation camp was organized in Ram temple, NR Colony on Sunday, 20th Oct. The camp was good and donors were really enthusiastic about it. 44 people turned up for the event, mostly family members of the organizers. 30 units were collected in the camp. Organizers were really happy with the way we organize camps. They are organizing camps with different blood banks for past 15 years, and told that they felt real difference from the past years and appreciated our efforts and focus towards quality and donor safety.
vi) Jones Lang La Salle
Second blood drive was organized in JLL, UB City on 23rd Oct. The turnout was bad compared to last year. Many people had consumed alcohol on last night in an Office party and hence ineligible to donate. Also, there were many rejections due to low hb, especially for ladies. 40 people registered for donation and 16 units were collected in the drive.
Rakta Kranti - Karnataka
Govt. College, Gulbarga
Govt. College, Gulbarga is famous degree college in Gulbarga with more than 3000 students. Sankalp organized a blood donation camp in the college on 1st October 2013 with 100 willing donors who came forward to donate blood. Total 52 units were collected. Blood bank maintained a good process of screening the donors despite of the huge crowd at the donation area. Supposedly it the maximum collection since 1971. Great support was shown by the Team Red volunteers who were trained by Sankalp for organizing a camp and the college faculty members who have been supporting the cause of blood donation since many years.
Thalassemia Day Care
October was a month if review and improvements for the Thalassemia day care centers supported by Sankalp.
Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health
At IGICH, with Dr Pooja back at the center the annual review of the progress was done. While there was lot to cheer about, the more interesting and engaging was the list of to do items both for the short term and the long term. The review led to increase in the hustle bustle in the clinic. Support from Applied Materials, India has made it possible to keep the center delivering upon it's promise of systematic care and management of Thalassemia and other related blood disorders.
Project Samraksha
Already in it's third month, things are getting streamlined at Samraksha - the new Thalassemia day care which has been set up at Rashtrotthana Parishat. When the center started most of the children were coming with hemoglobin in the range 3-5 gm/ dl. The first priority was to get the baseline hemoglobin on arrival to the center right. Thanks to the efforts, baseline hemoglobin has increased to 8.3 gm/dl. With hemoglobin in control, the baseline screening has begun. Baseline serology and biochemistry investigations are under way and corrective action based upon reports is being undertaken. Now the focus will shift to the all important chelation therapy. We would like to congratulate team Rashtrotthana for making steady progress.