Westmoreland’s medical officer makes urgent appeal for blood
Published:Tuesday | May 14, 2024 | 12:05 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Dr Marcia Graham, medical officer of health for Westmoreland, says there is a critical need for blood, admitting that persons have actually died because it is lacking.
“We need more blood donors. The system has come under significant pressure, and we have lost the lives of some of our citizens for lack of blood, and so I am issuing this appeal,” Dr Graham appealed while providing a report at the general monthly meeting of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation.
“I go back to our mothers. Some of them when they come in to deliver their babies, after the baby is born, their womb fails to contract adequately and they end up with bleeding after delivering, and sometimes it is fatal because we don’t have the blood to save the lives of our mothers,” she said.
In issuing the appeal for blood, Dr Graham advised people with smoking and drinking habits, as well as some other ailments, that they also qualify as donors but explained ways in which they could bring their condition under control to satisfy donor requirements.
“If you have diabetes or hypertension, you can donate blood. It does not make you ineligible. Once your condition is under control, please visit the blood banks and get yourself assessed,” she said.
“If you have a tattoo or a body piercing that took place more than a year ago, you are eligible to donate blood. If you smoke, once you abstained for three days, you are eligible for donating blood,” Dr Graham said.
As it relates to those who consume alcohol, the Westmoreland MOH said: “If you drink alcoholic beverages of any kind, once you abstain for 24 hours, you are eligible to donate blood, so I am issuing a passionate appeal for us to do our part in improving our blood supply situation.”
Earlier this month, clinical coordinator for the Western Regional Health Authority, Dr Delroy Fray, declared that the region is at crisis level as it faces an emergency blood shortage.
Car crashes and gunshot wounds
In addition, Dr Fray expressed concern about the critical shortage of blood throughout the country, noting that motor vehicle accidents and criminal activities have significantly affected its resources.
“There is no question that motor vehicle accidents and gunshot wounds consume a lot of our blood products. I have said this over and over, and I have begged the drivers to stay within the speed limit,” Dr Fray stated.
“The vast majority of these accidents are due to speeding, which causes unnecessary injuries, unnecessary death, unnecessary hospitalisation, unnecessary use of our blood products,” he said.
Dr Graham made a similar observation in emphasising that the country’s blood storage is at crisis levels.
“We hear about stray animals causing accidents, and some of those persons who survive the incidents need blood. Crime and violence, surgeries, medical conditions, and motor vehicle accidents, all of these require blood to save lives and shorten the length of hospital stay,” she cautioned.