Cebu will roll out mobile blood banks
CEBU CITY – Soon, blood donors in Cebu no longer need to visit a blood center to make a donation. They can request to do it in a mobile blood bank.
The provincial government is working out a plan to field mobile blood banks that will accept blood donations and deliver them to the 16 provincial and district hospitals in Cebu.
Last month, Governor Hilario P. Davide III along with Vice Governor Agnes Magpale convened the Cebu Provincial Blood Coordinating Council (PBCC) to set up the mobile blood bank system.
Provincial Health Office (PHO) chief Dr. Rene Catan said vans will collect the blood from donors and deliver it to provincial hospitals in Danao City for the north sector, and Carcar City in the south for processing and storage.
Catan said the PHO is upgrading its hospital laboratories as a precondition for obtaining a blood bank license. The requirement includes collection capability, screening, processing and storing of blood units.
“Donors would just have to go up the van, lie down inside and donate blood,” he said.
The PBCC, with provincial and regional health doctors, approved the recommendation for PHO to acquire mobile blood vans to help the council conduct blood-letting activities.
While waiting for the vans to be procured, the provincial government will convert unused mobile X-ray trucks into a blood-collecting unit.
At present, the PHO partners with the Sacred Heart Hospital to collect blood from donors.
The council also approved the recommendation for PHO to establish a blood service facility inside the Capitol compound to store blood-processing units.
Dr. Ma. Socorro Entera, Department of Health (DOH) representative in Cebu, suggested that to gather more blood, the Capitol should include in its yearly activities the “Give Blood on Christmas Day” or “Give Blood on Valentine’s Day”, in addition to its traditional blood-letting activity during its anniversary in August.
The council also approved the recommendation for funding for donor incentives and aftercare.
The provincial government has yet to disclose the number of vehicles and the budget needed for their purchase.
“I am happy that we have an adequate supply of bloods, we have donors and hopefully, next time, we will have a blood-collecting unit,” Davide said in a statement released Thursday.