Two of the six blood collection centres in T&T fear we will not be prepared to treat Ebola victims if they come to our shores.
This was after Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan on Wednesday stated that lots of blood will be needed to treat Ebola patients if there are any infections, and he urged people to start donating. About 27 pints of blood are needed for the treatment of one Ebola victim, Khan said.
But Khan’s call has not stirred citizens to donate their blood.
According to the Ministry of Health Web site, T&T needs 65,000 units of blood per year, given its population. However, only 20,000 units of blood are donated annually.
Head of Port-of-Spain’s Blood Transfusion Unit Dr Ileana Nordet, meanwhile, said this year 30,000 units of blood were donated so far.
Nordet, a haematologist from Cuba, said the ministry was working to increase its blood supply. She believes that hospitals would have sufficient blood to treat Ebola patients.
Approximately 40 donors come in on a daily basis to give blood, she said. “But that does not mean we would get 40 pints.” She also said that donations have not increased with the threat of Ebola. Nordet also said blood expires 35 days after going into storage.
At EWMSC: We’re not prepared
Head nurse at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC) blood bank Anita Seerattan-Abrahim, when asked if they are prepared to treat patients infected with the virus, said “No.”
She said: “In order to deal with an emergency situation like Ebola, they definitely need more staff, equipment, and the public’s support.”
She said surgeries and procedures at the hospital utilise the majority of blood. Surgeries can range from open heart to kidney transplants. Five pints are used for an open heart surgery, while a patient undergoing kidney transplant needs four pints.
Blood is also required for cancer and Accident and Emergency patients. The blood bank also supplies 11 private hospitals on a regular basis. Seerattan-Abrahim said the biggest setback was staff shortages.
The bank has only four nurses and one nursing assistant.
Of the four nurses only two are trained, Seerattan-Abrahim revealed.
“The problem is we need trained staff. For a registered nurse to work in the bank, they must undertake a programme called blood transfusion nursing. You need to have that qualification in order to properly assess the donors.”
Despite plans to extend its opening hours at the blood bank to facilitate the working class, Seerattan-Abrahim said the depletion of staff was inhibiting this.
Reclining chairs on which donors sit for blood to be extracted are also needed.
In Tobago: Woe unto us
A nurse at the Tobago General Hospital blood bank, who requested anonymity, said on a daily basis the hospital aims to get between eight to ten pints of donated blood to meet the needs of the wards and the island. “The most we would collect is three to four,” she said.
She said the blood bank sometimes require 30 to 40 pints per week to supply the wards.
“But most times the demand outweighs supply.”
Asked if they can come up with 27 pints to treat an Ebola patient, the nurse replied: “Definitely not! If Ebola should come, it would be woe unto us.”
The nurse said she often wondered two things: where the Ebola victims will be housed in Tobago and where they would obtain blood.
“If we should have an Ebola case, I know we would be in for a problem.”
From Monday to Wednesday, the nurses said only five pints of blood were collected.
Despite radio advertisements to woo donors, the nurse said “not many people are responding except for those giving blood for relatives or friends on the wards.”
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr Colin Furlonge is confident that all systems are in place to tackle Ebola if it comes our way.
“There is a difference between a patient with Ebola and a major situation. If we have a patient with Ebola, we are looking at 20 units of blood given over a period of time...a week or so.”
While people have been saying that the blood banks would not be able to supply blood to treat Ebola victims, Furlonge said Khan was heightening the awareness of citizens.
He said Khan’s call on citizens to donate more blood was to increase our need if we have to manage a case of Ebola. “What Dr Khan has recognised in preparing for the Ebola is that there is need to increase the donation of blood.”
Furlonge said it was impossible for a plane load of Ebola victims to come to our shores.
“Generally what we have seen is one or two patients with Ebola. They arrive in another country and they lock down the place in terms of spreading the virus.”
Furlonge said the ministry has been working to improve the blood bank services.
“We are looking at bringing in a director with special qualification who can manage the national blood transfusion service.”
Another area was extending the working hours and training nurses and technicians.
“When it comes to things like blood, there is need for a continuous drive. We want to reinstate that and make it a standard thing where we continue the voluntary donation.”