Blood Banking in Disaster

In a disaster, some or all of the following scenarios may materialize:

• Damage to health facilities at a time of increased demand for their services
• Disruption of social networks and the operations of health care and support entities.
• Environmental degradation leading to the proliferation of vectors and other sanitation problems.
• Human displacement leading to radically increased or decreased population density, affecting food supply and hygiene and precipitating the outbreak of communicable diseases.
• Damage and partial or total loss of basic services (transport, communications, water, electricity).

Only a comprehensive strategy comprising vulnerability assessment, mitigation, and closely-knit organization at the local, regional and national level will ensure an adequate response in disaster situations and guarantee the timely and cost-effective recovery and reconstruction of the affected facilities. A national blood bank system, including a central reference facility should be established for the handling of emergencies. The system should take into account the capacity and vulnerability of each centre, both from the point of view of infrastructure and the services it should provide in an emergency.

The organization and hierarchy of the blood bank network should be established in advance as part of the overall development and management of the system. An inventory of human and physical resources should be carried out, including the precise definition of roles and responsibilities.

The vulnerability assessment of laboratories and blood banks should uncover at

least the following information:

• Expected structural and non-structural behavior of the laboratory or blood bank facilities.
• Expected characteristics of the damage: location, causes, magnitude and consequences.
• Likely operational capacity after each type of disaster.
• Recovery time for full operational capacity.

Immediately after a disaster has struck, damage to each facility and to the system as a whole should be assessed from the point of view of both security and operational capacity. Then an assessment must be made of the need for blood, supplies, and other physical and human resources. If donations are required, one should ideally accept first of all people who have previously donated blood, and process the units of blood in accordance with national safety standards.

Emergency communications should be carefully planned and tested in advance. This includes redundant channels and alternative modes. Transportation of blood and other supplies and equipment to the affected areas should also be planned with care, including alternative routes in case roads have been blocked by landslides, debris or flooding. Simulations and drills should be carried out in normal times to test the efficacy of the system.

References:

1. www.unisdr.org
2. Disaster Bloodbanking lecture by Dr Teguh Triyono