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Thursday, November 23, 1972
RED CROSS BLOOD COLLECTION UNIT TO BE STRENGTHENED
The Mobile Blood Collection Unit of the Red Cross of Hong Kong
will be strengthened with the addition of a well-equipped and sophisticated
vehicle from West Germany early next year.
The Lotteries Fund has given capital grant of $371,000 to the
Red Cross Society to meet the cost of the vehicle.
The vehicle will have special equipment, including a blood
refrigerator capable of taking up to 250 units at a time. There will
also be a blood donation cabin with eight beds four fixed and four
hammock type a refreshment area and a toilet.
A spokesman for the Red Cross described the vehicle as a "self-contained
and sophisticated blood collection centre in miniature".
"Acting as the spearhead of the Mobile Blood Collection Unit, the
vehicle is expected to go a long way towards increasing the number of donors.
It will be easier for the Unit to reach the more distant areas in the New
Territories and various resettlement estates throughout Hong Kong," he said.
The spokesman added that the present inadequacy both in terms of
manpower and well-equipped and self-contained vehicles resulted in a loss of
efficiency in the operation of the the Mobile Unit.
Meanwhile, the demand for blood from hospitals in Hong Kong has been
increasing and the Red Cross hoped to collect 36,000 units in 1972-73- an
increase of 6,700 units over the previous year.
At present, the Red Cross collects an average of 3,000 units a month.
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