FAQ's

How much blood do you take ?
 

In India 350 ml blood is collected from a blood donor weighing not less than 45 kilograms. Donors weighing more than 55 kilograms may donate upto 450 ml of blood.

The scale shows 450 gms but you say only 350 ml blood is collected. Why?
  The bag in which blood is collected contains a solution which prevents blood from clotting. The total weight of the bag, before blood collection, is about 80 Gms. Besides, blood being heavier than water, the weight of 350 ml blood is about 370 Gms. The total weight of the bag, after blood collection is, thus, 450 Gms.

How long can blood be stored ?
  This depends upon the solution used to stop clotting. The older solutions allowed blood to be stored only for three weeks. Today, using newer solutions we can store blood for five weeks.

How do you store blood ?
  Blood is stored in a special refrigerator where temperature is constantly kept between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius.

What tests are carried out on donated blood ?
  The donated blood must be free from malaria, syphilis, Hepatitis-B virus and AIDS virus according to the Indian laws prevalent today. In Pooja Blood Bank donated blood is also screened to ensure that it is free from Hepatitis-C virus. (This virus causes liver disease which can be fatal and which has no known cure).

Why can't these tests be carried out before blood donation ?
  We do not carry out tests on persons, our tests are carried out on blood bags. This becomes necessary to avoid "cheating" by prospective blood donors.


Will we get a report of the results of these tests ?
  Unfortunately, we can not issue reports. Firstly, because our tests are done for the purpose of screening and not for diagnosing a disease. Secondly, the tests employed by blood banks are not "fool-proof". We often get "false positive" results. When that happens, we have to discard the donated unit. However, if we report this, the blood donor may be falsely alarmed. There are reports of persons who have committed suicides after being reported "HIV-Positive". We do not want to cause such reactions mainly because of the occurrence of "false-positive" results.

Do you take professional blood donors ?
 

In India professional blood donation has been banned b law since 1-1-1998. In Pooja blood bank no professional blood donor has ever been entertained.

Why do you charge for blood bags when you get blood free from donors ?
  The charges collected are not for the commodity known as "blood bag". They are charges for the service which includes the cost of the blood collection bags, expenses for testing of donated blood, expenses for separation of blood components, storage of blood and components, pre- transfusion tests on recipient's blood and overhead expenses of the blood banks.

What benefits do the blood donors get ?
 

In Pooja Blood Bank we give assurance of FREE supply of blood or its components to the blood donor and three of his nominated family members for one year. The blood donor himself/herself is entitled for FREE supply throughout life.

Do you use all disposable equipment ?
  YES.

Why don't you use a machine instead of lancets for taking blood ?
 

It is not cost-effective.

Why do you use different types of bags for blood collection ?
 

This depends upon what components we are going to prepare out of your donated blood. This in turn, depends upon our stock position of various components and also on requirements by patients. A "single bag" is used when the donated blood is going to be used as "whole blood". We use a "double bag" to prepare one unit of "Packed Cells" and one unit of "Fresh-Frozen Plasma" from a single donation. "Triple bags" are used to make an additional unit of "Platelet Concentrate" from the same donation. "Penta bags" are used to make small aliquots for use in babies.

Why do you give coffee after blood donation ? Why not juice or tea ?
 

The main purpose of giving refreshments is to keep the blood donor under observation for about 10 minutes after blood donation. Adverse donor reactions can be taken care of if the donor is under observation. With hot coffee and biscuits donors stay for 10 minutes.