Blood supply at HRPZ II critical, can only last for three days

KOTA BHARU: The blood supply at Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital (HRPZ II) is now in critical condition and can only last for up to three days, said the hospital's director, Datuk Dr Selasawati (rpt: Selasawati) Ghazali.

She said this was due to the hospital not being able to hold blood donation programmes extensively because of the current situation.

“Previously, we often held blood donation programmes, involving the participation of university and college students, as well as at supermarkets, but due to the current condition, such as the enforcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO) and the Conditional MCO, the programmes cannot be held.

“As such, our blood supply now only depends on those who come to donate blood at the hospital,” she said and urged those intending to donate blood to come to the hospital to do so.

She told this to Bernama when met at the 2021 Semarak Kasih Amal Charity Mega Blood Donation at the HRPZII Transfusion Medicine Department where more than 100 volunteers from the Kelantan Amal Department donated blood here, today.

Also present were Kelantan Amal Department director Aliman Ismail and HRPZ II Transfusion Medicine Unit head Dr Rahimah Abdul Wahab.

Dr Selasawati said an average of 80 to 100 bags of blood is required every day to meet the needs of 12 hospitals in Kelantan, comprising nine hospitals under the Health Ministry and three private hospitals.

Meanwhile, Dr Rahimah said the public should not worry about going to the hospital to donate blood as necessary measures are taken to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 by complying to strict standard operating procedures (SOP).

"Those who want to donate can visit the HRPZ II blood transfusion centre , which is open on Sunday to Thursday from 8 am to 5 pm. Health workers also wear personal protective equipment, in addition to donors are also required to wear face masks at all times and donor beds are spaced at least one meter apart.

"However, donors from the red zone and those with symptoms are not allowed to donate and they also have to declare if hey have close contact with COVID-19 positive patients and also their travel history,” she added.

-- BERNAMA