HOSPITAL BLOOD BANK RUNS OUT

The blood bank at the National Referral Hospital is again facing blood shortage as the festive season draws closer.

Medical Lab Manager at the hospital, Donald Tahani reveals, blood supply at the hospital usually gets lower at this time of the year as most people are heading home for holidays.

He says the hospital needs 25-35 blood units per day – a challenging benchmark in terms of blood collection.

“We need around 25-35 units of blood daily. Currently, collections during blood drives are usually just below 10 blood units so we would like to inform the public the issue of public response to these blood drives in order to save the lives of our sick patients at the hospital.”

Meanwhile, Blood Recruiting Officer from the Solomon Islands Red Cross, Segema Olita says, they have collected seven blood units yesterday as part of a three days blood drive that is currently underway in Honiara.

“We have collected seven blood units and at least to keep us going and we are hoping to collect more at the Public Service to help our sick people at the hospital.”