Blood Donation Drives
We conducted 6 blood donation drives in the month, collecting 748 units of blood.
ITPB
In the first week of Jan, the blood stocks were low in the city. Due to new year's eve, companies were not organizing blood drives. ITPB is one of the organizations whom we can bank upon in such crisis situations. And it came to rescue by organizing blood camp in a blood mobile for the first time.
There was a lot of enthusiasm in donors and a constant queue of donors was always there in throughout the first day. The camp also tested some of the crowd management skills of Sankalp volunteers as 4 beds in the vehicle were simply not enough! Second day saw an even greater turnout than the first. A total of 210 units was collected in this 2 days event. First Sankalp camp in Blood Mobile was a success.
AMD
10th blood drive was organized in AMD on 10th Jan. Though there was an initial dull in the number of donors, second half of the day saw a good turnout. More than 70 donors turned up for the camp and 61 of them donated blood.
Interra Systems
Interra Systems organized a second blood donation drive on 14th Jan. It is a small company with about 150 employees. With 40 people turning out for the camp and 33 units collected, this company again showed their care and support for the cause of voluntary blood donation.
Rambus
Rambus organized their third blood donation drive on 16th Jan. Due to the efforts put up by Rambus in publicizing the event and putting up posters throughout the tech park, this camp saw the maximum turnout from Rambus and other companies in IBC Knowledge Park. A total of 120 units of blood was collected which was more than the expected number!
LSI
LSI organized their first blood drive with Sankalp on 17th Jan. With 249 units of blood being collected and close to 285 donors turning up, this was a good first camp. With the use of online publicity materials and help from company volunteers, the count from previous drive (non Sankalp drive) was improved by 40%! The quiz questionnaire sent by Sankalp made a huge difference.
JNCASR
Jawahar Lal Nehru Center for Advance Scientific Research organized their 5th blood donation drive with Sankalp. The response from college was great with a very good participation. More than 80 people turned up for the camp and 75 of them donated blood.
Republic Day Celebration
With the flag hoisting and the singing of the national anthem Sankalp India Foundation kicked started the Republic Day celebration. The day was a busy one for several of us since in parallel with the meeting that was organised to mark the occasion there was also a blood donation drive happening at Indira Gandhi Institute.
After the flag hoisting ceremony the volunteers put their heads together to discuss and understand several crucial topics related to the work that Sankalp does. First to stand out was the larger plan of action for the children suffering from thalassemia. Volunteers debated and went into the deep down details of the actual problem confronted by these children and the steps that can be taken to solve those problems. The discussion went to the extent of understanding BMT as a curative option and the feasibility of it in the Indian context specially with children like those who come to Indira Gandhi Hospital (economically weaker section of the society).
The next topic that came up was that of proper utilization of the blood that is collected in the blood bank. Details were shared about practical issues in Karnataka which lead to sub-optimal utilization of blood in some organizations and the possible steps to mitigate the problem. Emphasis was given to rational utilization of blood components.
Next in line was a training for the volunteers who have started attending the drives recently. Sankalp has a robust training program which needs to be taken by each volunteer who aspires to become a camp incharge - the person who can represent Sankalp in a blood donation drive. The training served as a refresher for most of us even as the new volunteers gained a lot of knowledge on the subject.
Blood Donation Camp at IGICH
While the meeting was happening at one place, on the other end, there was a blood donation drive going on at the blood bank. Due to cancellation of a drive at the last moment the plan of the blood bank to make available blood units went into a tizzy and there was an immediate requirement of a camp. Thus we hit Facebook, spoke to friends and colleagues and mobilised the donors.
An exceptional mention needs to be made of the associates from Robert Bosch who came to the drive in the blood bank wholeheartedly. They brought along more friends and family members enabling a drive in the blood bank proceed with smooth collection. A total of 29 blood donors came forward and donated blood at IGICH on that day.
With the customary lowering of the flag as the sun set, the organisation brought an end to the Republic Day celebrations.
Networking Bidar
We were getting numerous blood requests from Bidar and we did not have good on-ground networking there. In order to fix the situation a blood donor registration drive for emergencies was organised and a blood bank from Bidar was networked.
We visited B. V. Bhoomaraddi College Of Arts, Science and Commerce, Bidar om 30th Jan 2013. Met the NSS officer who accompanied us to the 10 classes where donor registrations were done. Overall 180 registrations were done by end of 2 hours. The NSS officer and principal both were warm with the idea of conducting a camp in their college. Further discussions on the camp dates are happening.
We also visited District Blood Bank, Bidar in an attempt to connect them to the network of statewide blood helpline - 9480044444. It is the only blood bank in the district and caters to about 30 blood requests in a day. The blood bank is highly maintained and they recently got component separation unit in place. Met the Blood Bank officer who agreed to be a part of the helpline.
With this, we are better prepared to handle any blood request coming in from Bidar now.
New Staff for Thalassemia Day Care
Over a period of last 1 year there has been a growth of attendance at the Thalassemia Day Care Centre from 65 children to 175 children as of date. With the increase in the number of patients attending the day care the workload on the technicians at the blood bank has also increased significantly.
The hospital has taken note of this situation and is in the process of getting more technicians on-board. At the same time, in order to ensure continued high quality delivery of service to the patients, Sankalp offered the services of an additional technician at the blood bank. Ms Dhanlakshmi has joined the blood bank from 21st January 2013. We wish her all the best!