Throughout the pandemic period, waves of COVID-19 outbreaks have been accompanied by reduced visits to blood donation centers. With Thailand now facing its 5th COVID wave, supplies at blood banks have again become insufficient for meeting demand. This has prompted the Public Relations Department (PRD) and the Thai Red Cross Society to organize an activity to raise blood supplies available to hospitals nationwide.
Civil servants and PRD personnel, as well as members of the public, have been donating their blood on the mobile blood donation vehicle parked inside the PRD compound in Bangkok’s Phaya Thai district. The vehicle was sent by the National Blood Center of the Thai Red Cross Society.
The National Blood Center’s off-site blood donation activity takes place at the Public Relations Department headquarters every 3 months. Past donors are notified in advance via SMS, while would-be donors are informed on the National Blood Center’s website.
In Yala, a mobile blood donation unit has been set up at the provincial hall in the province’s capital district. Staffed by personnel from Yala Hospital, the unit has been seeing an abundance of visits by donors, who are subjected to strict COVID-19 screening. All donors must be tested using the antigen test kit (ATK) method, with a positive result necessitating an RT-PCR test. A confirmed RT-PCR result would then be followed up by a treatment process for the individual.
In addition to blood donations, eye donations are also being accepted by the Thai Red Cross Eye Bank. (NNT)
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