Organization of the outdoor blood donation drives amid novel coronavirus pandemic and national lockdown: An experience from a tertiary care oncology institution in India

Abstract

The conduct of blood donation drives became difficult amid novel coronavirus disease pandemic and national lockdown. Despite no restriction for the outdoor blood donation drives, voluntary blood donor organizations (VBDOs) and individual donors became apprehensive regarding the possible risk of spread of the infection during blood donation. Various confidence-building measures were taken to decrease this hesitation. Numerous preventive measures were taken at the blood bank and at the donation venue to limit the possible risk of the spread of infection. With the help of these measures, the confidence of the individual blood donors and the VBDOs was restored and multiple blood drives were organized.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Blood Transfusion Services: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…In the case of three articles, Grandone et al [ 31 ], Wang et al [ 32 ], and Ou-Yang et al [ 25 ], their comparison focused on their donation numbers between the same months in 2020 and in 2019. As for the others, Raturi and Kusum [ 22 ], Gupta et al [ 33 ], and Yahia [ 34 ], manual counts were done to calculate the relevant data needed for the meta-analysis as they each reported their results differently. All three articles measured their donations within spans of months before 2020 and during 2020.…”

Impact of COVID-19 on blood donation and supply in Africa

“…Mobilisation campaigns should be aimed at creating awareness: educating the populace on the importance of blood donations, debunking COVID-19-related blood donation myths, and sharing extra safety and screening measures instituted in the facilities. 14 …”

“…This allowed the blood bank to receive adequate supplies of blood amid the pandemic. 14 Some of the measures taken to boost the confidence of donors during the pandemic included the education of both staff and blood donors on COVID-19 preventive measures, the observation of safety protocols while conveying the donors to the venue of the blood donation drive, the provision of face masks and other personal protective equipment to all donors and staff, the compulsory use of hand sanitisers, and the use of infrared thermometers to check the body temperature of all the donors. Also, the use of ‘namaste’ as the mode of greetings to avoid handshakes was reinforced.…”

“…Finally, blood inventory management should be implemented to prevent stockouts in emergency cases, collected blood and blood products should be harnessed judiciously. 14 …”

Sangue como recurso terapêutico essencial aos sistemas de saúde e a pandemia pela COVID-19

“…Assim, após cancelamento e redução na disponibilidade de sangue, nos meses de março e abril, os resultados desse conjunto de medidas, inclusive para o fortalecimento da confiança dos doadores e resolução de problemas logísticos, foram observados a partir de maio. (GUPTA et al, 2020) Entretanto, como a pandemia segue em curso, não foi feita ainda uma conclusão sobre seu efeito geral nos serviços de transfusão. (ARCOT et al, 2020) Ainda que alguns países sinalizem para uma "segunda onda" da epidemia, conforme apontam os dados do início de setembro de 2020, outros países seguem ao mesmo tempo com franco registro de casos, como os EUA e o Brasil, países de extensão continental e com diferenças na curva epidêmica em alguns estados ou localidades destes.…”