THE PHILIPPINE Red Cross (PRC) Pangasinan chapter is encouraging qualified donors to give blood to meet increased demand this dengue season.
Krismar Glen Brillantes, quality assurance officer of PRC Pangasinan, said there is a shortage of platelet concentrate in their blood bank.
“We average 50-70 patients per week with them needing minimum of two bags and maximum of six bags of platelet concentrate. We are constantly processing platelet since even patients from Zambales, Tarlac, and Baguio are being referred to us,” he said.
Brillantes said platelet concentrate only lasts five days and the demand is high, noting they disposed 70 bags in just three days last week.
He said the continuous blood donation activities are being done all over the province.
“We encourage those who are qualified to donate. We already have the apheresis machine that can extract six to eight bags of platelets from one donor,” Brillantes said.
He said eligibility requirements in donating platelets are the same as normal blood donation.
Brillantes added the donor’s platelet count should be at least 220,000. The average platelet count of a person is between 150,000 to 400,000.
“A person can donate apheresis platelets every 14 days as platelets can be given safely up to 24 times per year with no adverse side effects to the donor, while platelets can also be given through normal blood donation and we will be separating the platelet in our laboratory,” Brillantes added.
Meanwhile, he said their office has an ample supply of red blood(By Hilda Austria)
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