Red Cross turns back blood donors in need

Eight members of the Kochchar family donated blood on November 13 at the Uphaar cinema hall during a camp organised in honour of the victims of the devastating fire at the theatre earlier this year.

"But last week, when I desperately needed a few units of blood for my father who had to undergo heart surgery, the officials at the IRCS curtly turned me back saying I was entitled to avail the same from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)," says Surinder Kochchar.

Their argument was that 170 units of blood collected at the camp had gone to the AIIMS blood bank, though the donor card given to all blood donors entitles them to use the same in case of emergencies at any of the government-recognised blood transfusion centres.

Kulbhushan Arora of the Voluntary Blood Donors’ Association (VBDA) was also turned back when his wife was diagnosed as having cancer and urgently required over a dozen units of blood for an emergency surgery. And this was despite the fact that Arora had donated blood for as many as 98 times.

"The whole attitude of organisations like the IRCS toward blood donors can often leave even a die-hard donor bitter for life," says Arora, adding that one solution to this perennial problem was to strengthen the network of donors and utilise their services as and when the need arises.

Dr Shiva of the IRCS, however, counters the allegations of insensitivity saying he had to put up with hundreds of such requests for blood everyday.