NBTS Has Adequate Supply of Blood Bags

Head of the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) Emergency Operation Centre, Dr. Marion Bullock DuCasse, is assuring the public that the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) has adequate supply of blood bags to facilitate the collection of blood for emergency surgeries.
This assurance comes amid rumours that a number of blood collection centres are out of blood bags.
“The National Blood Transfusion Service has adequate supplies of blood bags, which have been distributed to facilities islandwide. The supplies have been received for the month and this was never in question in terms of the shortage,” she stated.
While expressing satisfaction with the public’s response to the call for voluntary blood donors, she appealed to the public to visit collection centres across the island.
“The Ministry continues to appeal to the public to donate blood. The appeal has so far been very fruitful as a number of persons have turned up at our blood collection centres and the Ministry is very grateful to the public for their continued assistance,” she said.
Individuals can visit blood collection centres at the University Hospital of the West Indies, National Chest, May Pen, Mandeville, Cornwall Regional, Savanna-La-Mar, Falmouth , St. Ann’s Bay and Port Antonio Hospitals. Persons are however advised not to visit the Central Blood Bank on Slipe Pen Road as no collection of blood will be done at that facility due to the current unrest in the area.
In the meantime, the MOH official has said that the Emergency Operation Centre remains activated and continues to coordinate the Ministry’s response to the unrest.
“The Ministry of Health continues to direct and coordinate and monitor the services that are being offered. At present, the Kingston Public Hospital, the Bustamante Hospital and all of our public hospitals are offering emergency services in Kingston and St. Andrew,” she stated.
“Staffing levels are low as a result but the staff that is present is equipped to cope with the cases that we are seeing,” she added.