Rise in demand for blood: Hospitals grapple with crisis

There was a shortage of B positive and AB positive blood units. It took some time to procure the units, said a source at one of the private hospitals. Deputy director of health services,Dr U Gavande said that the hospitals were required to coordinate among themselves. There is no formal system of coordination in place and the hospitals were to coordinate among themselves, he said.

The website set up by the State Blood Transfusion Council SBTC giving the details of the requirements of various hospitals could do little to alleviate the situation. With about 30-40 units required on the first and the second day,hospitals had to do their own coordination before volunteers stepped in to deal with the crisis.