From Our Correspondent
TURA: It was a day of panic and anxiety for people who had come to the Tura Civil Hospital for treatment on Sunday as the main shutter of the hospital’s blood bank remained locked for hours without a single staff of the blood bank available in the hospital.
The blood bank which is supposed to be manned 24×7 remained closed for hours which panicked the attendants and relatives of several patients who were being treated in the hospital and outside. Starting from around 9:00 am there was a substantial rise in the number of people waiting for the blood bank to open so as to avail blood for patients in need of immediate transfusions. However the staff of the blood bank including the doctor in-charge were not available to attend to the needs of the people.
Among the attendants waiting outside the blood bank on Sunday, were several relatives of a woman admitted at the Tura Christian Hospital who was bleeding profusely and hence was in need of urgent blood transfusion. The relatives had brought their own blood donor to the Tura Civil Hospital blood bank for proper testing and collection of the blood but their purpose was not served due to the shut down.
The most unusual thing was that, only the main shutter of the blood bank was locked. Other doors beyond the main shutter remained open with several electrical appliances such a ceiling fans, lights etc. left on. It was later found that there are three doctors and equal number of staff to assist the doctors in running the blood bank. However, none of them were available on Sunday last. Every now and then, the Tura Civil Hospital organises blood donation camps and many citizens from the town and its surrounding areas generously donate blood.