Ukraine’s Blood Donors
Despite Russian bombing and power outages, clinics continue to operate vital service.
Ukraine’s Blood Donors
Despite Russian bombing and power outages, clinics continue to operate vital service.
Kharkhiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, is home to a major blood donations centre. Operations have moved to the basement since February 27 when Russian shelling hit the building, killing one donor and injuring three.
“Since the beginning of the war, blood donations have increased. [Before] the number was low, there is not a culture [of donating blood],” Olena Malygon, deputy director of the Kharkiv Regional Blood Service Centre, told IWPR.
There are nearly 300 medical facilities across the country where people can donate blood. Although Russian forces have been targeting power plants, electricity supply is guaranteed in clinics and blood centres can continue to operate in case of blackout.
“The blood centre is equipped with an appropriate number of generators and has a supply of fuel in case of a power outage [to guarantee] both the blood storage components and the continuation of our work: reception of donors, preparation, processing and examination of the donated blood,” Vitaliy Demsky, acting director of the Kyiv City Blood Centre, told IWPR.
The Kyiv City Blood Centre operates as a coordinating hub for collection, testing, processing, storage, distribution and transportation services for a network of hospital blood banks throughout the capital.
