The Medical health and family welfare department would soon send 375 units of Red Blood Corpuscles (RBC) — blood component — and medicines to Nepal which is ravaged by earthquake. On the request of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat had directed the department to send medical help to the earthquake victims of the neighbouring country.
The Officiating Director General (DG) of State Health services, Dr Kusum Nariyal told The Pioneer that 300 units from Indian Medical Association (IMA) Blood bank and 75 units from Blood bank of Doon hospital is ready to be dispatched to Nepal. Incidentally, the department is planning to send RBC component to Nepal as trauma victims need RBC for survival and transporting it is much easier than whole Blood.
The officiating DG said that blood component would either be airlifted or sent by road to Nepal in a special van. This vehicle is available with the Uttarakhand State AIDS Control Society (USACS) and has four large refrigerators which can carry 320 units of components. Dr Nariyal informed that this special van would need 22 hours to reach Nepal.
She said the department would also send life saving drugs and antibiotics to the Himalayan neighbour. One of a department official working on the consignment to Nepal said that four unit of blood is needed to extract one unit of RBC. He said that the health department would organise blood donation camps to keep its stock of blood and corpuscles. There are 27 Blood banks in Uttarakhand out of which 17 are in government hospitals while 10 are in private sector. However the component separator facility is available only in six blood banks in the State.