Blood banking and Transfusion medicine are an important service of RCSSH. The Blood Bank meets all the blood product requirements that the high volume of surgeries demand.

Advanced Services provided

• We provide blood components to other health care centres in the area.
• Stringent procedures are followed for screening out infectious diseases in the blood donor population.
• We provide expertise advice to clinicians on blood product selection and management. As a result of the advances in donor testing, today the blood is safer than ever before.
• In addition to the serological tests, we are in the path of implementing Nucleic acid testing (NAT testing) for HIV, HBV and HCV, a highly sensitive and specific test for viral nucleic acid detection. It improves the blood safety by narrowing the window period; the number of days after which the infections get detected. Window period can be lowered to as low as 6 days for HIV 1.5 days for HCV,13-34 days for HBV. NAT can detect even low levels of viral DNA and RNA.
• Transfusion medicine: Department of Transfusion medicine at the RCSSH has expanded its horizons from blood collection and component preparation to Apheresis and advanced testing in Immune hematology.

Immuno-hematology in Blood Bank

Advanced Gel technology is used for blood grouping and cross matching. We have the facility to identify antibodies to minor red cell antigens (like kell, Kidd, C, E etc.) which has the potential to cause haemolytic disease of the new born and haemolytic transfusion reaction. The monitoring of antibody levels by coombs titration and ABO isoagglutination titration is also performed in our lab.

Apheresis in Blood Bank

Single donor platelet by apheresis technology is collected from healthy donors using the apheresis machines. These platelets can effectively increase platelet counts and are maximally utilized by patients with hemat-oncological disorders. Single donor platelets reduce the number of donor exposures compared to random donor platelets prepared from blood donations a unique preparation of PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) and BMAC (Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate) for therapeutic in hospital.

Computers are used in the Blood Bank for record keeping, quality control, and blood inventory and test results. Test orders, test reporting and specimen collection are also computerized.