TACLOBAN CITY – Rhegina Jurilla, 22 years old from Tunga, Leyte underwent a blood transfusion at the Divine Word Hospital as she was afflicted with dengue fever.
Her family and friends helped get concentrated blood type B-RH+ from a government blood bank but they were turned down as there was no supply of such blood type.
Geron, Rhegina’s friend who requested his family name be kept confidential, has referred the Jurilla family to the Philippine Red Cross (PRC)-Leyte Chapter at Magsaysay Boulevard this city.
To make sure Rhegina could survive, he sought help from the PRC.
Of the three blood units needed by her, only two were available at the blood bank last March 11.
But Rhegina’s doctors still need three more bags of blood, making Geron do another request to the PRC.
The PRC blood bank after failing to get the blood supply from Ormoc and Cebu blood banks, requested 3 bags shipment of concentrated B-RH+ from PRC national headquarters.
Today, Jurilla is on her way to recovery thanks to the help of the PRC through her friend. She as confined at DWU Hospital since March 10.
The case of Jurilla made the PRC – Leyte Chapter appeal for more volunteers to donate blood.
“Each blood unit is 450ml and can help up to 3 patients depending on the needs. The blood you donate may help save the lives of your family members,” Edwin Pamonag, PRC officer-in-charge administrator, said.
The PRC National Headquarters has set up make-shift blood bank at the operation center of PRC at the Leyte Park Hotel last November 16, 2013 to serve the needs of the people of Leyte and the region.
It was only PRC that served the blood needs of the people in the disaster-hit area a week after the storm surges generated by Yolanda that killed close to 7,000 people with 2,000 more declared as missing.
PRC Chairman Richard Gordon saw the need of providing safe blood that he sent 120-capacity blood bank refrigerator right away with initial 40 units of whole blood of different types. He also instructed the PRC National Blood Bank and nearby Cebu Blood Bank to supply the needs of the chapter.
“It was great of Chairman Gordon to send blood supply right away in the make-shift blood bank at the operations center at Leyte Park Hotel. He later sent a container van converted to blood bank, equipped with two refrigerators, bed for extracting blood and office table,” said Blood Bank doctor Michieko Malou Modesto said.
The PRC has already served 732 patients and supplied 898 units of blood for operation needs in hospitals run by the locals and the international medical teams, Modesto added.
She also said that an instruction coming from PRC Secretary General Gwen Pang prohibits collection of processing fees for those who want to avail blood services from the PRC.
Nilda Quiero, medical technician, said that normally PRC collects processing fees to test each unit of blood for transfusion-transmittable infections, namely syphilis, HIV, hepatitis B and C and malaria.
“The fees ensure we have supplies of blood bags, reagents and other supplies, to ensure safe and quality blood. It is also to maintain our facilities and equipments,” Quiero, who lost a brother during the typhoon, added.
The PRC blood processing fees are in conformance with DOH Administrative Order No. 181 series of 2002 and per unit are: P1, 500 for whole blood, P1, 100 for packed red cells, and P700 for the rest of component blood products such as platelets, frozen plasma, cryoprecipitate and cryosupernate. (VICKY C. ARNAIZ)
