BLOOD DONATION.聽 A mobile blood donation activity at San Joaquin Mother and Child Hospital, in coordination with the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Iloilo Chapter, in September 2024. PRC on Wednesday (Jan. 29, 2025) called for more donors to ensure a stable blood supply in Iloilo province.聽(Photo from San Joaquin Mother and Child Hospital FB page)
ILOILO CITY 鈥� The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) has encouraged Ilonggos to embark on more blood drives to ensure sufficient supply in the province.
PRC Iloilo Chapter Western Visayas Regional Blood Center manager Dr. Carlo Carado, in an interview on Wednesday, said there were usually fewer mobile blood donation activities in January due to festivities.
鈥淎s of now, we are still supplying the 26 hospitals here in the province of Iloilo with the mobile blood donation activities that we have during the January period,鈥� Carado said.
Other than mobile drives, the PRC also accepts walk-in donors.
Carado said they didn鈥檛 have the figure on how many blood units are needed in a month because the number of patients requiring blood varies.
鈥淏ut for our yearly target, we need to reach the 25,000 plus blood units so we can say that sufficiently, we can supply the whole province of Iloilo. I am thankful to our partners; in 2024, we reached 31,000 blood units collected,鈥� he added.
In addition to Iloilo, they also supply blood to their other chapters.
鈥淢ostly, the bulk of our requests are from hospitals, our OB (obstetrics) patients, and surgical patients. Every day, we receive requests from them,鈥� he said.
Those interested in donating may join mobile blood donation activities or visit the PRC office. They have to be between 18 to 60 years old, physically fit, have good sleep, and not sick.
Groups are also encouraged to commit at least two mobile blood donation activities per year. 聽They can get in touch with PRC donor recruitment officers or email聽wvrdc@redcross.org.ph聽for their schedule.