Fray: Trauma cases depleting CRH blood bank
Published:Saturday | May 11, 2024 | 12:08 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Dr Delroy Fray, the clinical coordinator at the Western Regional Health Authority is making a fresh appeal for motorists to take greater care along the roadways due to trauma cases depleting the Cornwall Regional Hospital’s [CRH] blood bank storage, significantly delaying blood-dependent medical procedures.
Fray made the declaration while speaking to The Gleaner on Friday, even as he issued a renewed call for members of the public to donate blood for the CRH’s blood bank, which he said is currently low in terms of the volume of blood available.
“What we have found now is that the major requests for blood are medical patients, such as patients getting chemotherapy, or patients who are anaemic and coming to the medical ward; they need blood products as part of their treatment, and we are delayed when the trauma patients mop up all of the blood. The trauma cases’ use of the blood, I believe it is unnecessary, because all of the motor vehicle accidents that come to CRH, when you check the history, it is due to speeding and careless driving,” Fray complained.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do about that, but people are just not careful, and it’s a big problem we have here,” Fray continued. “I am concerned about the medical patients, such as our oncology patients and those who require blood, and we’re not able to give it to them. It delays the process, because you have to use it for those who need it right away.”
In 2023, Jamaica’s Road Safety Unit recorded 425 road fatalities across Jamaica, with Westmoreland, St Catherine, and St Andrew accounting for the highest number of road fatalities up to the beginning of January this year.
Fray also noted that the hospital’s blood storage is depleted due to cases of violence, such as gunshot victims who require emergency treatment. St James, where the CRH is located, has recorded 48 murders and 47 shootings up to May 4 this year.
“Last week Wednesday, May 1, we had only nine units of blood in the blood bank, and during that Wednesday night, four gunshot wound cases came to the CRH. They mopped up every bit of the blood we had available in the blood bank, and it wasn’t even enough, but they mopped it up,” Fay recounted.
“You know what the implication is? The next day, all of those elective cancer cases that need blood had to be postponed until we could get blood again. So the plea for me is, we’re encouraging people to donate blood, and I’m working on getting a way for us here at the CRH to do the necessary tests to make sure that the blood is good, to screen the blood that is going to be used,” Fray continued.
His call comes one day after Montego Bay’s Mayor Richard Vernon issued his own call for residents of St James to donate blood in order to reduce the shortage at the blood bank.
“We often find persons rushing to the hospital to donate blood when a friend or family member is in need, but the reality that exists is that we do not get enough donations. The hospital is really in a situation where it cannot get to do some of its operations because of a shortage in the blood bank,” Vernon said in his mayoral announcements during Thursday’s monthly meeting of the St James Municipal Corporation.
“I am calling first on my colleagues, if it’s not against your religious or personal beliefs, to volunteer the process and donate some blood. You never know who may need it at some point in time,” Vernon added.
“I must also call on the wider members of our parish to participate in this process. When you get some time, stop by the facility and donate some blood, because we need it to ensure that those who face adverse situations can get assistance. It is a way of giving back to the community, and it is a way of helping someone, whether you know the person or not.”