Delhi: Blood donation camp organised to meet shortage at Army hospital

In a bid to combat shortage in Army blood bank, National Medicos Organisation (NMO) in collaboration with Sevabharti and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi on Sunday organized a blood donation camp in the national capital. Known as "Rakta-Dhara Abhiyan, the camp was organized at Armed forces transfusion centre (AFTC) earlier today. AFTC is the Army blood bank in the national capital.
 
NMO Delhi "Rakta Dhara Abhiyan" is a COVID relief blood donation drive started by NMO to increase the voluntary donations to meet the requirement of blood at blood banks across Delhi. In times as today, when the entire nation is under lockdown and people are unable to visit hospitals to donate blood, these organizations are reaching out to the common man willing to contribute.

Due to lockdown, a serious shortage of blood in blood banks was witnessed, following which the above-mentioned organisations came together to solve the problem. The AIIMS and SevaBharti have organized several blood donation camps in the last four phases of the lockdown.

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Today, over 100 volunteers donated blood at the camp. A total of 96 unit of blood was collected in the end of the day.

At the blood camp, the donations were taken keeping in mind the protocol set by the government during COVID-19 scare. First, the registration of the donor is done, then the said person goes under a thorough medical screening following he is allowed to make the donation.

The staffers on duty also followed the legitimate protocol. All followed social distancing norms strictly. All those who were attending the donors were wearing proper gear, including masks and gloves. All donors also received a certificate from AFTC as a token of respect.

"The camp was organized with adequate physical distancing in waiting areas and between donation beds. Doctors and health-care workers use appropriate N95 masks, gowns and face shields as PPEs. All donors also wore masks and were provided  hand sanitizers," Dr. Amit Malviya, NMO "Raktadhaara" blood donation drive coordinator told Republic TV.
 

Dr Malviya, on behalf of NMO also gifted books on the life of Swami Vivekananda to Lt. Col. Ujwal Dimri, incharge of the army blood bank. Today, NMO and Seva Bharti also distributed Immunity booster kadha of Aarogya Bharti as per Ayush guidelines for blood bank healthcare workers.

Lt. Col Ujwal Dimri appreciated and thanked NMO and Seva Bharti for organizing the camp and distributed certificates to appreciate and motivate the brave donors. Today was the 9th camp under this initiative and recorded 725 units donations in the last 2 months during the lockdown in Delhi.

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