ts only when faced with personal emergencies, that we try to seek information related to it. Till then we even avoid -thinking about it !

God forbid, if a near and dear one suddenly requires blood for an emergency we would be totally blank, as where to even look for a blood bank in Thane.

If we did locate a reliable Bank, volunteers have to be sourced and convinced, finance has to be arranged etc.

'Thaneweb' realised the need of familiarising Thaneites, with the various services and facilities provided by a full-fledged blood bank and its Laboratory.

Navjivan Blood Bank & Laboratory is headed by Dr.Udani,and has been functioning for the past fourteen years. It is prominently visible on Gokhale road and right next to 'Malhaar' signal and next to the Titan' showroom. It is open twenty-four hours and three sixty five days a year.

With that purpose Thaneweb fixed an appointment with Dr. Preet Valecha (B.H.M.S.), the administrator and Medical Officer at Navjivan Blood Bank.

She explained, that it is indeed Blood that can really give a New Life (Navjivan) to a patient. A Blood Bank not only provides blood when needed, but also besides carrying out popularly known Malarial or Haemoglobin tests, it also separates the whole blood to its various components for various needs and emergencies arising with complications in a patient.

We have a completely Automated computerised pathology Laboratory for Blood-Banking. We utilise various latest technology machines like the coagulator, Analyzer, a fully automated sysmex etc.

From the whole blood we can separate Plasma, Platelets, FFP/Cryoprecipitate and Albumin/immuno-globulins. A blood bank has to have enough stock of all the blood groups like A+ive, B+ive, AB+ive, O+ive and A-ive, B-ive, AB-ive, O-ive and all its respective group components.

At any given time our blood bank has a stock of 100 to 150 bags of preserved blood. But there has to be an awareness in every Thane citizen that blood donation is good for the human body to renew and generate new platelets, the Red blood corpuscles (R.B.C)& the white blood corpuscles (W.B.C).

The body becomes accustomed to being activated, to generate fresh blood, plasma and all its components. A healthy person can safely donate blood four times in a year i.e. every three months.

Hence the fear of donating blood should be removed from the people. Even Ayurveda advises releasing blood in particular seasons, which can profit the human for the body.

Having donated blood, it can be used whenever needed by the donor for friends or anyone needing it in an emergency, as a donor card valid for an year is provided on blood donation. It would also be a contribution in kind, made back to the society we live in.

An emergency is unexpected, and the patient's family could be hard on cash and have other major medical expenses to fulfill. At that time our bank accepts two volunteer donors and gives one bag of blood free, i.e. one bottle against two volunteers - free of cost. The other viable option is we charge for the various tests like Elisa tests for H. C. Virus, Hepatitis-B, HIV, Malaria, and VDRL conducted @ of Rs. 850/- per bottle taken from our blood bank plus one volunteer donor is required to be adjusted against one bottle of blood.

But there are a certain precautions to be taken before donating blood by the donor. The eligibility criterions to be followed are as follows:

You have to be between 18 to 50 years of Age.
You have to weigh above 50 Kg's and have a hemoglobin level of 12gm%
You are physically Fit, and do not suffer from any major illness
You should not have history of Diabetes, Hypertension, Tuberculosis or Jaundice
You have to be free from any acute respiratory illness in the recent past
You should have no history of immunization in the recent past.
You should not have an history of any major surgery, pregnancy, Addiction, Cancer, Convulsion or Drug Intake.
You must not have a history of any recent Blood Transfusion
You are not during your menstrual phase (In case of Females).
You should not donate blood on an empty stomach.

With regards to educating the youngsters we are willing to organise lectures at various colleges. We are informing Doctors in the rural interiors of Thane to not only transfuse whole blood to a heavily bleeding patient as blood in volume may be wasted, but when concentrated components can be given instead and be much more effective in a particular case.

Its today's youth, that has to empathize and feel sympathy for the patient in need. They should have the bigness of heart to volunteer and donate blood to save the life of a total stranger. For, Blood for humans comes from humans and there is no substitute for natural Blood.

One can be a true 'Hindustani' even without becoming 'Shaheed'---- DONATE BLOOD GENEROUSLY!

Navjiban Blood Bank & Laboratory Prakash Bhuvan, Gokhale Road, Near Dr. Mhaskar Hospital, Naupada, Thane (W) - 400 602. Tel: 540 0425 / 538 3162 / 536 0385 Contact Person: Dr. (Mrs) Preet Valecha