Hospital develops mobile app to fight platelets shortage
THE APPLICATION WILL CONNECT ALL DONORS, WHO CAN DECIDE ON A TIME SLOT TO VISIT THE HOSPITAL TO MAKE THE DONATION
MUMBAI: To overcome the shortage of platelets — a blood component that is routinely needed for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy — doctors at Parel’s Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) have developed a mobile application to bring together blood donors.
Unlike other blood components that have a shelf life of over a month, platelets can be stored only for five days.
The application will connect all donors, who can decide on a time slot to visit the hospital to make the donation.
“Say there is a requirement of blood group O positive. All donors with that group will get a notification on their application and they can then volunteer to make the donation and fix a time when they can visit the hospital,” said Dr Tushar Vora, professor, medical oncology, TMH.
Although the number of platelet donations has increased since 2011, it has still not met the annual requirements. Data maintained by TMH shows that there were 2,000 donations in 2011, which increased to 4,000 in 2017. “We need about 25% more donations than what we get presently. There is definitely a need for more awareness about platelet donations,” said Vora.
TMH gets nearly 60,000 new cancer patients a year. On an average, most of them need platelet transfusion nearly 18 to 20 times during the course of their treatment. Chemotherapy destroys the marrow cells of the patients, which in turn destroys platelets which are needed in the body for blood clot formation. Shortage of platelets in the body could lead to disastrous bleeding and may result in death.
In 2007, a patient at the hospital had died because of unavailability of platelets, said a doctor. “It was a long weekend and we couldn’t find a single donor that day,” the doctor said.
Dr Sripad Banavali, head of medical and paediatric oncology, said the number of patients at TMH is increasing, with around 90% of them coming from outside Mumbai. “Using the application will be the most optimal way of ensuring that we get the donations only when we need them, so that the donors are not overburdened.” “If there are not enough platelets available, there is always a possibility of losing a patient,” Banavali said.