Red Cross getting ‘anemic,’ needs blood donations

With students still on summer break, the blood supply of the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) has grown almost anemic.

PNRC chairman and Sen. Richard Gordon said yesterday that the nation’s blood supply was "scanty" during the summer months because students, who are the source of 70 percent of the PNRC’s collection efforts, were on vacation.

Gordon claimed that the demand for blood was often high during the school break. He surmised it was because surgeries were often undertaken during the less busy school break.

"We still have supply but we are lacking in type A-positive blood," he told The STAR. Gordon did not explain why, since the most common blood type among Filipinos is "O."

Gordon noted that while the situation is not yet alarming, he does not want the PNRC to be caught unprepared if an emergency — such as a large natural disaster — occurs.

He called on the public to donate blood to augment the PNRC’s dwindling supply.

"I’m not a mediocre (PNRC) chairman. I want to make sure that we can help them in case of an emergency. If that Indonesia (earthquake) happened here, it would be hard to get blood if the people are already panicking," he added.

The PNRC seeks to maintain a daily inventory of 1,000 units of blood for Metro Manila and 2,000 units for the rest of the country. But during summer months, collection usually goes down by 50 percent.

(A "unit" of blood is usually 50 cubic centimeters).

The agency usually gets its supply through the blood-letting programs of the Reserved Officers’ Training Course and other student organizations.

To ensure that blood is easily available in any part of the country throughout the year, the PNRC is now implementing the "I Love You PNRC" program in which nine disaster officers and 25 blood donors are being identified in barangays nationwide.

"In case of an emergency, I’d want blood donors to be on call," he said. Through the program, Gordon said he expects blood sourcing to become easier even at the barangay level.

The PNRC will soon also launch the "Blood Samaritan Program" to encourage support for indigent patients. Under the program, the agency will get people to sponsor blood bags and the reagents needed in processing and storing the vital fluid.

He claimed that while the blood itself is free, the PNRC must purchase blood bags and reagents to process the supply. To recoup costs, the agency charges a fee of P1,100 to P1,500.

This will be similar to another program of PNRC in which people who donate a gallon of more of plasma are named "Blood Galloners."

"It’s good to donate blood. The incentive is that you will get healthier. And if you are a blood donor, you will have a donor’s card that you can use in case you need blood," Gordon added.