Apollo Hospitals honours donors ahead of World Blood Donor Day

Apollo Hospitals in Chennai honoured blood donors ahead of World Blood Donor Day, emphasising the critical need for donations.

Apollo Hospitals honoured blood donors on Wednesday as part of World Blood Donor Day to be celebrated on Friday.

V. R. Venkatachalam, Director of Medical Services at the hospital, said for the patients who receive blood it is like coming back to life. A person may have sustained bleeding injuries internally in a trauma. When blood loss is high it could lead to cardiac arrest and the person could die of excessive bleeding, emergency doctors of the hospital explained.

Dhavapalani Alagappan, clinical director of the hospital’s emergency department, explained that a severely injured person should be transported only by ambulance. Trauma victims must be handled carefully and gently as even the slightest movement could damage the arteries leading to excessive bleeding. In Tamil Nadu deaths, due to accidents are disproportionately high, he said. A broken pelvis could result in loss of 2 litres of blood while that a fracture of the femur bone could lead to as much as 1.5 litre blood being lost. A loss of two litres of blood could mean as much as 40% blood loss, the emergency doctors explained. 

While men can donate blood every three months women may do so every four months.  

Dr. Dhavapalani said, “Each donation is a lifeline, directly impacting our ability to stabilise patients on the brink of death. From accidents to medical emergencies, timely access to blood has bene the differentiator between life and death.”

Actor Ashok Kumar gave away awards to long-time donors.