The Philippine National Red Cross in Negros Oriental is appealing to the community, civic groups, and local government units to organize bloodletting activities.

Provincial administrator Louella Bael of the PNRC said they have been facing a severe crisis in the supply of blood since April.

She said they have only five bags of type “O+” and only  two bags of blood type “A+”, “AB+’ and “B+”.

Bael said they can only serve blood requests for emergency cases, only while they are forced to refuse to give blood for requests that do not require urgency. Red Cross blood donors are assured of blood supply in case they will use their deposit as a blood donor.

The months of April and May are considered lean months for the PNRC, because of the vacation and the election season. Bael said she noticed that there were no walk-in blood donors this month.

This is the first time they have experienced such crisis in blood supply, because in 2009 they still had sufficient supply in April that even until May.

Bael also tried to ask for blood supply from the Red Cross in Bacolod and Cebu cities, but they also have the same problem of scarcity in supply.

She said they expect an increase in blood supply in June, because of the scheduled mass bloodletting in Canlaon City on June 9.

One of the problems encountered during mass bloodletting is the rejection of potential donors, because of low hemoglobin count, Bael said. Based on the World Health Organization standard, potential blood donors with low hemoglobin, or any signs of an unhealthy blood, must be rejected.

Bael said she is encouraging organizers of mass blood donation to remind potential blood donors to get enough rest, get at least eight hours of sleep, and eat healthy foods. A healthy lifestyle helps a lot in producing healthy blood, she stressed.*MA

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