23rd February 2013: Sankalp India Foundation, organised for 3 units of Bombay phenotype for a critical patient receiving treatment at Istanbul University, Turkey.

On 20th February 2013, Sankalp India Foundation received a blood request from the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Istanbul University, Turkey. The hospital identified the patient's blood group as Bombay blood group and for the past 7 days they had been looking for blood donors across Turkey without any success.

This article highlights an important aspect of planning that must be incorporated by all blood banks to prevent acute shortage of blood in summer season.

This month when we send the newsletter most of us in Karnataka have a relatively comfortable situation when it comes to blood stocks. Last week, there was a blood bank in Bangalore willing to spare a couple of 100 units of blood to blood banks who might have lower stocks and they found no takers. Good stocks, frequent camps and reasonably full blood shelves.

Replacement for blood is just refusing to go away.. and now it has started affecting voluntary blood donation as well!

A person got his father admitted in a reputed hospital for a cardiac surgery. He was told that 5 blood donors were required to be brought in before the surgery. When he went back to his office he realised that most of his friends had donated blood a week back since the company had organised a large blood donation drive where 400 units were collected across all offices.