December end was a period of acute shortage of blood. Please read to know how a lot of people got together and contributed to ensure that the children suffering from thalassemia did not have to face this shortage.
It was the Christmas Day when I went to the Thalassemia Day Care Centre with the intent of getting the new Day Care Incharge getting started with her work. We were there on a holiday because there were too few patients expected. When I sat down to explain the intricacies of thalassemia management to her, I got a call from one of the volunteers explaining that we need to be calling blood donors. Since 15th December, there were too few blood donation camps in the city and the shelves were dry. In such scenario, with more than 60 units of blood required each week for the kids coming to the day care we had a desperate situation. We could have asked the kids to come for the transfusions in January. However, if that was the case, then what was the need for us to intervene in the first place? Sankalp participated in the day care center at IGICH to that the gaps in the delivery of healthcare - to ensure that these children never had to suffer because of blood. Beside this side of things, delaying blood transfusion has an adverse impact on the child's body. It accelerates the process of deposition of iron in the organs which eventually becomes the cause of death for most individuals with thalassemia.
Therefore blood had to be arranged - anyhow! We started calling the donors on the database. One call after the other eventually we must have called more than 30 individuals. Some responded. 2 of them came in to donate that day. After 6 hours of calling donors and managing donors alone, while on the way back home, the only question on my mind was what next!
The good thing about the people associated with Sankalp is that in the hour of need each one chips in with their little bit. It makes fighting with the biggest difficulties so much more easier. We propagated the message among our friends and well wishers and thus started the process of daily donation.
Every day, one or the other volunteer would sit down to call some more donors. Their donations were scheduled and the volunteers ensured that the donors were kept as comfortable as possible even as several of them chose to spend their evenings in hospitals when their folks wanted them to join the party. Some people sent mails to people they knew. One donor while donation blood called a few of his friends and eventually there were 7 donations. Some people spoke to their colleagues in office. Some of them called friends who had fallen out of touch and called them to meet - at the blood bank. They discussed life and living while donating blood. Drop by drop the blood kept coming into the blood bank and the wheel of life kept turning.
While the donors played their role, the blood banks (IGICH, NIMHANS and Rashtrottthana) did exemplary service. They worked night and day to ensure that the children coming next day got blood on time.
It is not particularly a proud situation for us not to have blood off the shelves coming from voluntary blood donation drives. More camps need to be organised when the need is acute. Better planning and more effort should have gone in to ensure that there was no shortage in the first place. However, all said and done, one the situation was there confronting us - the donors, blood bankers and volunteers got together and worked - shoulder to shoulder. What better New Year Gift for the little children.
Thank you everyone who saved the day!
It was the Christmas Day when I went to the Thalassemia Day Care Centre with the intent of getting the new Day Care Incharge getting started with her work. We were there on a holiday because there were too few patients expected. When I sat down to explain the intricacies of thalassemia management to her, I got a call from one of the volunteers explaining that we need to be calling blood donors. Since 15th December, there were too few blood donation camps in the city and the shelves were dry. In such scenario, with more than 60 units of blood required each week for the kids coming to the day care we had a desperate situation. We could have asked the kids to come for the transfusions in January. However, if that was the case, then what was the need for us to intervene in the first place? Sankalp participated in the day care center at IGICH to that the gaps in the delivery of healthcare - to ensure that these children never had to suffer because of blood. Beside this side of things, delaying blood transfusion has an adverse impact on the child's body. It accelerates the process of deposition of iron in the organs which eventually becomes the cause of death for most individuals with thalassemia.
Therefore blood had to be arranged - anyhow! We started calling the donors on the database. One call after the other eventually we must have called more than 30 individuals. Some responded. 2 of them came in to donate that day. After 6 hours of calling donors and managing donors alone, while on the way back home, the only question on my mind was what next!
The good thing about the people associated with Sankalp is that in the hour of need each one chips in with their little bit. It makes fighting with the biggest difficulties so much more easier. We propagated the message among our friends and well wishers and thus started the process of daily donation.
Every day, one or the other volunteer would sit down to call some more donors. Their donations were scheduled and the volunteers ensured that the donors were kept as comfortable as possible even as several of them chose to spend their evenings in hospitals when their folks wanted them to join the party. Some people sent mails to people they knew. One donor while donation blood called a few of his friends and eventually there were 7 donations. Some people spoke to their colleagues in office. Some of them called friends who had fallen out of touch and called them to meet - at the blood bank. They discussed life and living while donating blood. Drop by drop the blood kept coming into the blood bank and the wheel of life kept turning.
While the donors played their role, the blood banks (IGICH, NIMHANS and Rashtrottthana) did exemplary service. They worked night and day to ensure that the children coming next day got blood on time.
It is not particularly a proud situation for us not to have blood off the shelves coming from voluntary blood donation drives. More camps need to be organised when the need is acute. Better planning and more effort should have gone in to ensure that there was no shortage in the first place. However, all said and done, one the situation was there confronting us - the donors, blood bankers and volunteers got together and worked - shoulder to shoulder. What better New Year Gift for the little children.
Thank you everyone who saved the day!
Sankalp Unit
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