Dr. Vijeet Sinha, Consultant in Pre-Hospital Care at Delhi, works for Air Ambulance from Patna To Delhi a Clinical Director of Trauma, Said.

“This highlights the need to continue donating blood despite the challenges associated with covid-19, as traumatic injuries with serious bleeding sadly continue to occur. With the advanced interventions and pre-hospital transfusions provided by the team of Air Ambulance in Patna, we are able to give these patients a far greater chance of survival, but it depends on the blood donors.

“Thank you to all those who have donated, and continue to donate, both in the past and throughout this time; blood donation really does save lives, and our teams and our patients are hugely grateful to you.”

In 2019, a new combined red blood cell and plasma product was launched, which is given to patients at risk of bleeding to death before arriving at the hospital. The “red cells & plasma” specifically helps severely injured patients as it contains essential clotting ingredients to help form stronger blood clots and replace lost blood volume. It developed the chances of these patients reaching the hospital alive.

The previous year, 95 seriously injured patients received pre-hospital blood transfusions of the combined red cell and plasma product. The advanced trauma team of Air Ambulance from Patna is able to transfuse the blood directly into a large central vein, near the heart, so it can be transfused quickly, and it is given through a blood warmer to improve blood clotting and help stop the bleeding.

During the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were concerns that there would not be sufficient blood donors to be able to continue this world-class life-saving service. Contingency plans were made for the eventuality that there was insufficient O-negative blood and/or plasma for these patients.

NHS Blood and Transplant have put in place additional safety measures for staff and donors, and blood donation centers are open and running as normally as possible. World Blood Donor Day has been celebrated on the same day every year since it was established by the World Health Organisation, encouraging people worldwide to give blood.