The blood bank at the Regional Cancer Centre has won the award instituted by the Kerala State AIDS Control Society for its extensive blood components separation and distribution activities.
Director of Regional Cancer Centre Paul Sebastian accepted the award from Health Minister Adoor Prakash at a function held at Pathanamthitta on Saturday, in connection with the World Blood Donation Day.
The blood bank at RCC has the facilities to separate and store various blood components.
The blood bank also has the facility for automated blood collection or Apheresis, which involves drawing blood from the donor and passing it through a centrifuge which separates the components. Only the required component is retained and the rest is returned to the donor.
Apart from the Apheresis unit, the blood bank at RCC also has the blood Irradiation unit to prevent transfusion-associated reactions.
Last year, the RCC blood bank collected blood from 21,118 donors and separated red blood cells, platelet-rich plasma, platelet concentrate, Apheresis platelet, fresh frozen plasma and single donor plasma and distributed it among the patients at RCC and other hospitals.
The KSACS award was in recognition of this service.
