Management of the St. Joseph Hospital in Koforidua Effiduase, in the New Juaben South Municipality of the Eastern Region, says there is a looming danger due to a shortage of blood at the hospital’s blood bank.
Currently, the hospital’s blood bank has only 10 pints of blood, a situation that management has described as “scary” as the hospital may not have the capacity to deal with casualties when the need arises.
Of the 10 pints, five are O positive, three are B positive, and two are A positive.
The hospital has run out of the most scarce type, O negative, and management is concerned that the worst could happen if they have any emergencies.
The hospital’s strategic location, as a specialized orthopaedic and fracture hospital located a few kilometers from the accident-prone Accra-Kumasi highway, makes its operations very important in the health delivery process. Therefore, there is always a need to have adequate blood at the blood bank.
In response to this need, the management of the Koforidua Technical University, through its corporate social responsibility, partnered with the hospital to execute the 3rd annual blood donation of the university.
Professor David Kofi Essumang, the Vice-Chancellor of the Koforidua Technical University, emphasized the importance of blood donation in saving lives. He called on sister institutions, the general public, non-governmental organizations, and civil society organizations to voluntarily donate blood to support the National Blood Bank.
At the end of the blood donation exercise, a total of 76 pints of blood were donated by students and faculty of the Koforidua Technical University to the St. Joseph Hospital’s blood bank.
