(I drafted this piece a couple days ago but just did not have the time to post it)
(Cartoon source: http://bloodbankpartners.com)
This is something I don’t get…
National Blood Bank sends out SOS
KUALA LUMPUR: The national Blood Bank is sending an urgent appeal to donors as its supply is fast reaching a critical level. It has 137 hospitals in the Klang Valley to service but its stock has dropped to well below its secure level of 2,500 pints.
“At present, there is only about 1,300 pints in the bank,” said its director Datuk Dr Yasmin Ayob, who has made an urgent call for more donors. Kuala Lumpur Hospital and Putrajaya Hospital are among those that depended solely on the blood bank for supply.
Conceding that the fasting month had made most Muslims “unfit” to donate blood during the day, Dr Yasmin said the bank has extended its operating hours to 9pm daily to encourage them to save lives by donating blood. She said it was a common misconception that blood is needed during the Hari Raya celebrations because of the increasing number of accidents.
The centre in Jalan Tun Razak (next to the National Library) operates from 7.30am to 9pm from Monday to Friday this week to enable more people to donate blood.
In case you have missed it, this is what I don’t get – if the blood supply is truly too low and the Blood Bank is issuing a “SOS”, why then they only open from Monday to Friday when the majority of us are busy working?
Even the hospital I usually go for blood donation, only opens up to Saturday and that too for half day. On Sundays, they are closed but think about this – hospitals are opened 7 days a week and on 24 hours in a day too for other services. So, why the difference for the blood transfusion department when blood transfusion is as important as other services?
The blood bank is closed on Saturday and Sunday (make it Sundays for other hospitals) and when the supply is too low, asking donors to come back during working days to donate.
Its mind boggling isn’t it?
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u know smthg? i hadnt thought of that one bit… i used to donate twice a year for the last 5 years as i was still uni.. we had donation drives every year… ever since i started working this year, the thought of donating blood just slipped of my mind…
come to think of it, for the past year, i hadnt seen any donation drives being publicized in Klang… but like u said, it is mind boggling in the hospitals’ terms of service in regard to the blood transfusion dept…
Kavilan – there no urgency on “urgent” things it seems